Given a Second Chance
by Goddess of Twilight
Summary: This is set after season 2, but doesn't go into the events of season 3. The SeaQuest returns after disappearing more 3 months ago. Another captain is out for revenge, and Ben returns, with his adopted daughter.
1. Boarding The SeaQuest

Alright, here we go with one of my most favorite series or anything of the sort. It's SeaQuest. I love it, you love it... we all hated third season right? hehe.. i did, and I know it wasn't that big a hit since it didn't even have a real ending...

Ok, this is my take on what happens after the second season. The SeaQuest ISN'T missing for ten years, only about three or four months. Bridger remains captain, and Hudson goes for blood.

* * *

I looked at the shuttle, amazed at its appearance, watching the water drip off it in sheets. My duffle bag was on my shoulder, the strap biting into the flesh there. The hatch hadn't opened on it, if that's what it was still being called on things like this. I turned to see the rest of the students offloading a bunch of suitcases. I was aloof, choosing not to get involved with them, for various reasons. 

"How's my girl feeling?" A man came up and asked.

"It doesn't matter how I feel about this Ben, its how YOU feel. It used to be your home, for over a year. There is little chance of people you actually know being there still. And you don't even get to go aboard as an officer anymore." I said.

"I know, but it's bound to be a bit different. The original was destroyed at the end of a thirteen month tour. For a good reason of course." Ben replied.

"Of course. But so much else has happened without you, do you think you'll even recognize all of them?" I asked.

At this point all the other students were standing next to me, loaded down with luggage, much of it unneeded. I smiled at Ben. He was my adopted father, he had taught me to pack well, as any Navy personnel might. I had learned to pack just enough a long time ago, but he had perfected it to an art. He smiled down at me, putting his arm on my shoulder, looking out at the launch shuttle. The door was beginning to open, and people were coming out, looking almost dazed to be in the sun.

There were snickers as Ben moved quickly to salute, knocking my hat off my head, allowing my hair to fall out of it in a cascade of strange colors. I ducked my head, trying to shrink within myself.

"Your not military anymore Ben, you don't have to salute." Said the newcomer.

"Sorry sir, it's a habit I've not really grown out of." Ben said with a slight grin.

"I'm glad you agreed to come, it's good to see you. And all these students, amazing. I hope we've got room for them all." Came the reply.

"I'm sure you do sir, and Lucas will be thrilled to have kids there his own age. Speaking of which, have you met my daughter?" Ben asked, putting his hand on my shoulder just as I finished tucking stray hairs into my hat.

"You have a daughter?" Another man asked.

"Yeah, is that so strange?" Ben asked.

"You're raising another human being, and you ask if that's strange?"

"Hey! Ben's a good guy!" I exclaimed looking up at them, my arms crossed.

"It's alright. They're just kidding." Ben said, laughing.

"Didn't seem like it Ben." I muttered.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Deinera." Ben said, putting his hands on my shoulders.

I looked up at the two men, one was dark skinned, African American descent no doubt, and the other was a sun beaten man, age in his face and sadness in his eyes. I gave a small bow of the head to both of them, looking back up at my father to see what I should do. He made a small motion, letting me know it was alright to shake hands. I stuck my hand out, and it seemed to be what they were waiting for.

"It's nice to meet you dear." The Captain said.

"Yeah. Hopefully your less trouble than your father was." The Lieutenant Commander said with a laugh as the Captain shook my hand.

"Jonathan, is that any way to talk about people?" The Captain asked laughing.

"It's alright sir. I've taken care of him more than he has me." I said with a small grin.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" Ben shouted playfully.

"I am dad. Don't worry, I'm just kidding." I said. He smiled when he heard me say that.

"You better be. I can be a stern parent if I wanted to be." He said.

We all laughed at this. The Captain began telling the students to load up their luggage on the launch, letting them know the rules of the next few months. I stood there, waiting for everyone else to finish, so I wouldn't get in their way.

"It's hard to see you as a parent Ben, but it's done you good. How did you manage to convince them to let you have a daughter?" Jonathan asked.

"Well, they saw I was an ex military man, I had the money to support her of course, and that I had seen some pretty strange things." Ben said as I walked away.

"What does strange have to do with it?" Jonathan asked suspiciously.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you sir." Ben said.

"Try me."

I left them at it, drifting down the beach, holding onto my hat as a wind came in off the sea. I smelled it, smiling. There was a wrenching deep in my heart, but it wasn't as painful for me as it had been when I first showed up. I was surprised I could even come near the sea as it was. But there was so many things that Ben had told me about his experiences that I knew I had to return there, as most creatures did eventually. The sea had always been a part of my life in the past, although I didn't remember why. I looked out over the waters, wishing I knew what would happen. I had a few vague ideas, shadows of paths and lines. Just as the students I was with were going down the path to help the world. But the paths were like a spider's web, they were getting there, but by paths that were different than their outcome would be. I heard a splash somewhere further out to sea, and a voice. It was not his own, but something else I heard. But I could hear his voice as well.

"Hey, you going to load up with us or not?" The Captain asked.

"I'm waiting for everyone else to get settled; otherwise I'd be in their way. They'd be upset with me otherwise." I said.

"Why's that?" He asked.

"Because of me. Compared to all them, I'm about as different as he is." I said, motioning towards the dolphin.

"Ah, that's Darwin. We have a vocorder here to talk to him, would you like to say hello?" He asked.

"I already have, sir." I said softly.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm different. I'm sure you understand that, you've got two people on your boat that are different, in their own unique ways. And even Lucas, its gotta be tough to be a kid on a boat full of adults." I said.

"You have no idea." He said. "How do you know all this? From Ben?"

"A good deal of my knowledge of SeaQuest is through him, yes. Other knowledge comes from other places. But, I don't know if I could explain it. Never mind. Can I go say hello?" I asked.

"Sure, we've got plenty of time until your fellows are finished settling themselves in. Here, let me take your duffle, you won't want anything in it to get wet." He said.

"Just don't let them see it. You'll get on their bad side right away." I said.

"Don't let them walk all over you. You're a human being, with feelings, and they shouldn't be able to push you around. Come on, let's go show them." He said.

He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me to the launch. He took my duffle and put it up with everyone else's. All at once they talking stopped. He ignored it, grabbing the vocorder and motioning for me to follow him.

"Did Ben teach you how to pack? Everyone else brought enough stuff to last them an entire tour, and then some." He said.

"Sort of. He helped me perfect the art, so to say. I've learned from tours when I was in band." I said, and then stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, I just don't talk about my past, I can hardly remember any of it. I never remembered that before, it's something new." I said.

"It's alright, a past is a past. We all have one." He said.

We walked out onto the dock, where the dolphin was waiting, bobbing in the water. The Captain pressed a few buttons. As he did I leaned down and reached out to touch the dolphin. His skin was smooth and rubbery feeling. I laughed as he splashed water at me, telling me that the fish were good, and he would enjoy fishing with me if I could join him.

"Hello Darwin. This is Deinera. She's Ben's daughter. Do you remember Ben?" He asked.

"Yes, Ben. Deinera pod member. Deinera from far ago." Darwin said. I stared at him, hoping that the Captain wouldn't dig further.

"I think the vocorder still has some problems. It's been fried before, and Lucas is working on fixing it, improving it when he can. Isn't that amazing?" He asked.

"Wonderful. I've always wanted to speak with the dolphins." I whispered.

"Come on. Let's get back to the launch. I'm sure that your father has gotten everyone settled, and is ready to see the SeaQuest again." The Captain said.

"Sure. I can't wait to see it." I said.


	2. Deinera: my Daughter

* * *

We got back to the launch, and he frowned, seeing my duffle on the sand, ripped in a few places, and covered in sand. There were snickers from the group as I bent down to pick it up. I tucked some stray hair under the hat again, so the Captain wouldn't notice the emotions that crossed my face or the rush of changes my eyes made as I held back the power I could have unleashed on them in anger. 

"Why don't you leave it there? It's an improvement. Of course nothing could make you any better. You're worthless and pitiful, just like that poor sod who calls himself your father. Believe me; he'd be better off not claiming you." One of the girls shouted.

I blinked away tears. It wasn't that I hadn't heard these insults before. I had grown quite used to them actually. I hated it when they said stuff like that about Ben. He was a wonderful man, and had spent a lot of money trying to re-socialize me and help me prepare for the real world. It had paid off big time when I had graduated from college. Although he said Lucas had done so at sixteen, he told me it was alright. I was almost eighteen, and had a good excuse to have graduated college at that age; I had to relearn everything I had known, and learn all new things, and I had accomplished it in only four years, I had to unlock all my knowledge. I was far more intelligent than these students, as smart as Lucas I had been told. These students were my peers in a way, but I was aloof from them.

I wasn't here as part of the class, I was here because it was a class that Ben had taken up in his spare time, and since I was his daughter, he wanted me to go with. He tried to stop the harassment when he saw it. I didn't tell him that it continued out of his sight or hearing, but I was sure he knew. There wasn't much else he could do short of suspending them from the class, and that wouldn't leave much of a class for him to teach, not that that was the issue. The last time he took severe measures against the students harassment, he got into a lot of trouble that was a bit hard to get out of.

He had worked so hard to make sure that I would be ready for the world, and this was how he was treated for it. I knew he pretended they didn't say things like that to me, but I saw how his shoulders sagged every time I was called something new and more insulting. I notice his head hanged lower each time I let them call me that, and never stood up for myself. He knew that I could take them on in more ways than one, but he also knew that the last time I stood up for myself against people like them, I had almost gotten killed.

"Watch it, otherwise you're staying on the beach, and I'll make sure of that." The Captain said.

"You don't make it to the boat, you fail the class right here and now kids, you know that. Deinera is a part of this expedition, and my daughter. I don't play favorites, but I don't want to hear that kind of talk again, or I'll be sure to let your parents know about it, and a few other things you're keeping from them. And don't think I don't know." Ben said. Many of the students looked at him in surprise and fear at what their parents would do if they found out.

I sighed. That was about as far as it would go. They'd behave for a little bit. Take shots at me in small groups. Some of them pretended I didn't exist, but then there were some, like the girl who had told the Captain to leave my duffel on the beach, that would be as vicious as possible to make up for it. She was insecure, and one of the richest, and had been allowed to do pretty much anything by her father. But Ben did know a few things that would get her and her little groupies into a load of trouble even their parents couldn't bail them out of.

"Come on. I want to show you the cabin." The Captain said, picking the duffle up and dusting it off.

I followed him up past everyone else, closer to my father. The launch doors were shutting now and my father followed us towards a central cabin, full of a few officers and supplies. He gave me a tight hug, giving a mock punch to my cheek.

"I'm proud of you, you know that. You turn the other cheek when you could do things to them that would leave 'em screaming for their mothers." He said softly.

"I learned from the best, dad." I said, kissing his cheek. I felt the swell of happiness again when I called him 'dad'. It was a strange word on my tongue, and would be difficult to get used to.

"Ben, you two have a lot of explaining to do. I've never seen this level of animosity towards one person before! What on earth is going on!" the Captain exclaimed.

"It's a long story sir." Ben said.

"Leave it for later. Go keep an eye on those piranhas out there. Deinera can stay with me up here."

"Yes Captain Bridger sir!" My dad said, saluting.

I grinned; he looked like the military man he used to be. Except for the clothes. He opened the door and rejoined the others, some of whom were laughing away at me and everything they could find a fault in about me. As soon as the door shut, I let out a sigh. So many things, such a headache. I turned to Bridger to see him staring at me, frowning again.

"Deinera is an old name. Sounds like some sort of Greek Goddess or something." He said. "It would surprise me if Ben chose that name for you, let alone had a reason to."

"He did. He's a lot smarter than people give him credit for, Sir." I said, tilting my head up to look him in the eyes for the first time. He started.

Most people were shocked the first time they looked right into my eyes. I had been the first time I had seen them after everything had happened. They were black, and the whites were some strange powder blue color. It was nothing next to my hair, but I hated the attention both got, and only used my eyes to get someone's attention for something important. Before I could stop him, Bridger reached up and knocked my hat off my head. I cried out, grabbing for it. I not only wanted to keep them from seeing my hair, but it was a precious object. Ben's hat from his service on SeaQuest. I didn't want it damaged.

"What kind of kid is Ben raising?" Bridger exclaimed, staring at my hair.

"This wasn't his fault." I said, snatching the hat back and fixing my hair under it.

"Don't start with me. I had a son of my own, and my crew and I have been through a lot, not to mention we knew Ben quite well. Why?" He asked, referring to my hair and eyes.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I said.

"That's the same thing Ben said, Deinera. Why don't you tell the Captain? I'm sure he'll believe you. I believed Ben after all." Jonathan said.

"I'm not from around here. And that's a real understatement. We don't know exactly where I'm from, and not even when." I said.

"When?" Bridger asked, raising a brow.

"Just let her continue, Sir." Jonathan said.

"I don't know what all they were trying to accomplish back then, but they accomplished a lot. I think there's an institute that carries on some of the things we were doing there. But they tagged us all, and began doing tests, some of them genetic. It wasn't a very pleasing place for even a rat I'd think. No contact with friends, or family. I don't know how long I was there, but long enough to forget my family and who they were. Perhaps it was just a chemical they pumped into my brain to make me forget. My eyes and hair, they're natural. At least, that's the way it is now. I used to have brown hair, and green eyes. Even hair dye and contacts won't hide this. But I do have something you could call a chameleon reflex. It's not so much me changing, but something that fools your brain into thinking it's seeing something else." I said. "I can't really remember too much. Just spots and peices of any time spent with them."

"So, you're a psychic from the past?" Bridger said.

"In a way. I'm a time traveler I suppose, but I can't go back. I had two friends inside with me, people I had gotten to know before they dragged us in. We're able to do a lot of the same things. I'm strongest when it comes to animals and empathy. There was some sort of accident, and an escape attempt. I don't know who all died, but my two friends and I were brought forward, here." I said.

"How muchDO you remember?" Jonathan asked.

"A little here and there. I remember my friends, but little of our life outside the compound. Our constant contact with one another kept alive the memories we had made and most of our knowledge of one another. I was a genius with language before they took me in. So they wanted to make sure I kept that. They were trying to make us all spies. I think I regressed in age when I arrived here. Ben found me on a beach somewhere, waterlogged and half dead I suppose.Honestly, that's about the limit of my memories, the abriged version I would suppose if you wanted to hear about every memory I've got. Ben loves it." I said.

"He said they found you and alerted him." Jonathan said.

"Yeah, he tells everyone that. He saved my life. He plays it down a lot though; it would bring too much attention to us. Especially because of this." I said, brushing my hair aside to show him a complicated piece of hardware, along with scars.

"Gills. Why can't people ever stop! They think they're gods!" Bridger shouted.

"I don't mind so much anymore. But the computer they attached I want to get rid of. It boosts my psychic abilities, and is a pain. But it's laced in with my spine, so Ben didn't know how we could get rid of it. Don't be upset with him for not keeping you up to date. He's a wonderful father, and has raised me since I was fourteen." I said.

"Amazing."

"Unbelievable is more like it." Bridger said.

"So is your story about being abducted. I mean, you've been gone almost three months, and suddenly BOOM your right back in the middle of the ocean, setting off sensors everywhere." I said.

"How did you know that?" Jonathan asked.

"Ummm." I said with a sheepish grin.

"Oh great, another one. Lucas is going to have a field day with this." Bridger said.

"Why do you think they were interested in me? How do you think they managed to find me? Laid a trap and caught me, which led to the capture of my two friends, who are just as good as the rest of us were, in my pride, I betrayed the two most important people in the world to me, back then. They're still important, but there's another story there, and one I'd rather not tell right now."

"Great, I'm going to have to keep a look out for two more." Bridger sighed. "They're going to want the three of you, you realize. The government will try to find some way to keep you, or some other government will want to have you."

"That's why when Ben put in for my adoption papers he told them little if anything of what I really was. I mean, some people have weak minds enough for me to make them see something that's not there, or more precisely, not see something that is there. I don't know of my other two friends, but I can feel they're being careful." I said.

"You mean you aren't even looking for one another?" He asked.

"We can't find one another. We can feel each other in our minds, and that's about it. We really miss one another; we were the only real family there. I want nothing more than to find them, and never let go again, but we know for our safety and the safety of those we care about, finding one another right now is probably not a good idea." I said.

"Captain, we're coming up on the SeaQuest." Another officer said.

"Come on Deinera, you'll be the first to see where you're going to be living for the next few months." The Captain said.


	3. Ben: a father at last

I've gone back and edited all of the first four chapters, hoping that it will seem much better than it had before. Someone mentioned Deinera was bordering MarySuedom. I'm trying my best to tone it down. If I can have suggestions about what I can do to take her away from that, it would be appreciated.

* * *

I looked out the front window and gasped. It was huge, and made of some strange material, almost organic. It reminded me of a giant squid, or something similar. I saw Darwin shooting ahead of us as we began to dock. I grabbed my duffle bag and stood ready to get out of there and see my new home. I gathered myself, making sure to tuck loose hair under the cap before we left. It was the last thing I needed, them harassing me more about my hair. I personally loved it, but they kept referring to me as a Dagger, which was actually a term used on G.E.L.Fs, Genetically Engineered Life Forms.

After they had all gotten off, I went to find my father. He was staring at the ship, as if he didn't know where he was. I took his hand, and patted it. He looked down at me, and tweaked my nose. I laughed and waited for everyone else to go ahead of us. There were people there he seemed to know however. They seemed to know he was coming, and were all waiting to greet him. They didn't notice me as I slipped behind him, to escape the barrage of strange emotions.

"Ben!"

"It's been a long time!"

"I hear you went off and had a kid somewhere while we were gone!"

"Yeah, it's great to see you guys again. It has been a really long time." Ben said.

"So did you bring your daughter or what?" Another asked.

"Yeah, I did. Guys, I'd like you to meet my daughter." Ben said, taking my hand and pulling me out in front of him.

"She looks a little old. I thought you'd have some adorable five year old that's got her mom's looks or something."

"She's adopted you guys. Don't be so harsh. She's a good girl. There aren't many takers when it comes to adopting a teenager." Ben said, squeezing my shoulder.

"Yeah. Sometimes adoptive parents are much better than the real thing, so lay off you guys. Ben might have been pretty thick and self centered before, but people change."

"It's hard to see you as a good parent Ben, but I'm glad you're trying. I almost wish my dad would let the Captain adopt me and get it over with." A younger voice said.

"Hey Lucas, it's good to see you. You've grown up really well. I'd like you to meet Deinera." Ben said, everyone else was wandering off.

"Hey, I'm Lucas. It's nice to meet you." He said with a small smile.

"It's good to meet someone my own age around here, mentally speaking." I said softly.

"She's like you Lucas. It took a while to get her used to the here and now after adopting her, but after that, it was like lightning." Ben said. I turned and looked up at him.

"What is that thing?" Lucas asked, reaching out to touch the chip.

I dodged past his arm, knocking his hand away. I put my hand over it.

"It's nothing." I said, picking up my duffle bag and walking away.

"She's a bit sensitive about it Lucas. Don't take it the wrong way. I guess it's what started this whole thing. I sometimes think that she's only acting, and wants her old life back. I don't know, I think I'd be pretty heart broken if she went back. I don't want to stop her though, if it makes her happy." Ben said.

"You're a good dad Ben. I know we all made fun of you for being immature, but it looks like having a kid brought out some of your better qualities. Not that there were that many." Lucas said with a laugh. "You've done a good job with what you had. I don't know her very well yet, but I'm pretty sure that she's turned out well. From what I was told, she had almost no memories left. A blank slate is what she was pretty much. And with everything against you, look at what she became."

"Yeah. She's a beautiful girl. Not just physically. She's indescribable inside. I've only caught a glimpse of it here and there, but it's so wonderful. Her smile, her laughter. I think it's what I missed the most when I was in the military, and after I separated with Hitchcock. I don't even think she knows how beautiful she is inside, but when she finally comes out of her little cocoon, she's going to be one hell of a butterfly." Ben said, Lucas laughed. "And you better be careful, you hurt my little girl and I'm going to have to have a talk with the Captain."

"You're sounding like those parenting books." He said.

"But that's what it means to be a parent Lucas. Even the four short years he has had with Deinera showed him what I learned about my son, and I had more time than Ben has had. Inside every young person is something pure and wonderful just aching to burst forth and do some good for the world. It's just, most of the time they don't realize the potential they have, and if they do, only a fraction of it. She's had a hard go of it. Let her have some alone time, then go talk to her. She'd love to spend some time with Darwin." Bridger said.

"Yes Captain." Lucas said and walked away.

I was wandering about the huge submarine, wondering how on earth we could have advanced so far. I was amazed at the love I felt about the ship. Bridger had created it, and though he had to sacrifice the original, there was just as much love for this one. I saw ahead of me a man mopping the floor. He was large, built like a football player I'd think. There were strange markings tattooed over his head and hands. I thought it was strange, the colorful markings reminded me a lot of a turtle.

"Hello, I am Dagwood. Why you not with the others?" He said.

"I wanted to see you." I said.

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"I'm kinda like you Dagwood. See?" I said, taking the hat off.

"Maybe, but you have hair!" He said, reaching out and touching my hair.

"Yeah. But I'm different all the same. We have a lot in common. It's good to finally meet you though. I should get going. " I said.

"Alright. Goodbye." He said. I nodded and walked off.

"Hey! You're moving too fast for your old man. What's the hurry Deinera?" Ben asked. I smiled.

"I'm just trying to find my room. I want to sit down for a bit, and relax." I said.

"Alright. Well, as soon as we find it, I'll let you unpack, and then give you the tour." Ben said.

"But you said yourself, this is a different boat." I said.

"Yeah, but it's the same basic design. Besides, it'll give us some time to spend together, since I'll have to deal with the class and stuff, and you'll be pretty much on your own." He said, looking at me.

"I'm glad you brought me along Ben." I said, hugging him.

"Me too. Heck, I don't give a damn how much it took to get them to agree to bring you aboard. I'm just glad you're here." He said, kissing the top of my head.

He kept his arm around my shoulders as we walked around trying to find my quarters. The class was for marine biology, and although I had an interest, I wasn't going to get involved with it. I knew Ben would like me to join the military so I could be assigned to SeaQuest, but I wanted to get involved in sciences instead. And with the marine biology class here, most of us were assigned to rooms with one another; a few of the heads in class were actually assigned to members of crew and the science department. It had taken a lot of convincing on a lot of peoples part to get the Admiral to agree to let the students join the crew of SeaQuest for the last leg of the tour. Money had exchanged hands, after that, things went easy. Money made the world go a lot smoother, that hadn't changed in any decade or century. But since the SeaQuest still had military personnel, it had been quite the task to get assigned there.

I was glad to be assigned near the pool where they talked to Darwin the most. I was assigned with one of the doctors workers. It was nice to meet her, but she immediately left as soon as she saw my eyes. I was sure that I'd be given a new room. I was right too. I was assigned to the Doctor. Her name was Wendy, and she was a psychic. I was relieved, because she didn't seem to mind my eyes or hair. I was glad to find someone who didn't flinch when they saw me, except for Ben. He stopped by after I was settled, looking a little confused.

"Hello Ben. One of the science officers was a little nervous about Deinera, but don't worry, she'll be fine with me." Wendy said softly.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything, won't you?" Ben asked.

"I will, don't worry dad." I said.

"Don't get into any trouble. Lucas will probably stop by to chat. It's not so often he gets to see kids his age at his level of thinking." Ben said.

"Or anyone else for that matter. He's a very smart boy." Wendy said.

"Thanks for takin' her in Doc." Ben said, nodding to her.

"It's not a problem. Deinera is unique. We have some similarities between us. I think we'll get along fine." Wendy said.

"Alright." Ben said, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Be careful sweetheart."

With that he turned abruptly and left the room. I sighed and sat down.

"Ben isn't your father is he?" Wendy asked.

"No. But you already knew that." I said.

"I don't like to pry where I am not welcome. A person's mind is one of those most sacred places Deinera. He loves you very much you know. As much, if not more, than a real father would love his real child." Wendy said.

"Yeah, I know. I try really hard to show him I love him just as much. I can't even remember the feeling." I said.

"Yes you do. I can see it, bright as day. Whatever they did to you back then that took your memories, was probably the worst thing that happened to you, and your friends. But in the end, I think two people reap benefits from the tragedy." She said.

"Sometimes I want to find my old family. But, they took all my files from before and destroyed them. I hurt Ben the most when I kept asking him about my real family. Every time I was looking, and he saw, I felt like I had ripped out his heart. I can only hope the love I have for him now, my father, can begin to repair the damage I did before." I said.

"I think it has." Wendy said.

"If I asked you to read my mind, would you?" I asked suddenly.

"Why would you want me to do that?" She asked.

"Because, perhaps it will unlock all the memories I have lost." I said.

"Are you sure? Some things are better left forgotten, and it seems that you are much happier now than you were in the past, although you're still not whole." She replied.

"No, I'm not I suppose. But no one ever is until they find the other part of their soul. And mine, was ripped from me when we were brought here."

"Your friends?"

"Yes. They are a part of me, and I am a part of them. But if it takes remaining unwhole to keep them safe, I don't care." I said.

There was a knock at the door and Wendy opened it, to find an out of breath teenager, Lucas. He smiled when he saw her, and she welcomed him in. He was talking to her about something or the other, and turned to see me sitting there, and stopped.

"Whoa." He said.

"It's rude to stare Lucas. This is Deinera, I think you've met?" She said.

"Oh, um, well, yeah. We have. I'm sorry about before, and, wow. Your hair is something else." He said.

Wendy looked at him and he looked chagrined. I just shook my head and laughed.

"It's all a part of genetic engineering Lucas. I am what became of and entire group of people at the institute. Me and two others." I said.

"Well, come on. Darwin wants to talk to you some more." Lucas said.

"Lucas, you know better." Wendy scolded.

"Would you like to talk to Darwin again?" Lucas asked, sighing.

"Of course." I said, after looking to Wendy to see if it was alright. She nodded.

* * *

I do hope this is better for those of you who have read before, although I don't know if you'll come back to read it again. I'll probably post up some more this weekend, after I edit a bit more.


	4. Talking Memories

This is my next installment. As I forgot to mention in the previous chapters, I don't own SeaQuest... technically. I own the first season

Lynnp: Yes, I do plan to include other members of the crew. Ortiz, O'Neil, and Lonnie Henderson make an appearance other than Ford, Bridger and Ben. Lucas and Wendy show up as well. I feel like bringing Katie in as well, with her ship that she took command in when she left at the end of first season. I hope to also bring about Kristin Westphalen.

Kate: Sorry that its sounding MarySue-ish. I did try to tone that part down. Any time I tried to fix it, it sounded worse to me. Dunno, maybe I should have tried again before putting it up. Then again, there are students that will harass a student in such a way, and worse, if the high school movies I've watched are any indication. I don't have experience with that degree of harassment, but I do know how it feels. Anyway, she's got only one more real encounter with the students, and I am going to look at that now to see if it's alright. I'm trying to reforge it away from MarySuedom. Thanks for letting me know. There's more explanation of the genetic engineering as the story goes along, mostly in the next chapter or two, and maybe some more later on. It's hard to think of where I put some of it when I'm shivering.

Robert: XD Nice to see your out and about. Go read some more of my stories now. Who cares if they're all American storylines. I'll let you know the back story if I have to.

to my anonymous reviewer: I have actually explained about how dying her hair won't work for more than a little while and neither will the contacts. And about the half and half calling him dad and Ben, its because of the fact that she's still trying to find herself and understand what's going on now that she actually has a caring parent, and doesn't have a lot of memories and stuff... but yeah. More explanations to come later.

* * *

"You said something about genetic engineering. Was there an accident in one of your experiments that caused your hair to do that? Is it permanent?" He asked. 

"Yes, it's permanent. And I was the experiment. It's a long story. But, back then I guess they hadn't realized what the chemicals could do for my appearance, and thus, my hair and my eyes are so radically different. We don't know what effect it may have on my children, or if I can even have children. This thing you were asking about, I don't really know what it's for completely. All I know is it boosts my abilities. I don't think it controls my actions or anything. If it did, it can't now." I said.

"That's crazy. The only genetically engineered people I've heard of are people like Dagwood. And he's completely engineered." Lucas said.

"I'm not. I was completely human before, not necessarily normal mind you, but human. I was born of a real mother and father, as were my friends, and all the others they took." I replied.

"You mean your not now?" Lucas asked warily.

"I don't know what I am really. I'm not what I used to be, that's for sure. I'm the same person, but not the same being. I look relatively the same as I did when I was younger, except for eyes and hair. And a few modifications." I said.

"Like what?"

"Well, let's just say the first time Ben took me out into public for a swim at the beach, I scared the living daylights out of him. He was used to my appearance, and we had dyed my hair the day before, so others wouldn't shy away. But yeah, if you think now he's less self centered, you should have seen him then. You wouldn't have recognized him, he was worried, and terrified that I'd drowned." I said.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

I smiled and pushed my rainbow hair out of the way, and showed him behind my ear, next to the device implanted there. I heard him make a strange sound. I turned back to him with my eyebrow raised.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"You're just like Tony. He's got gills too." Lucas said. "It shouldn't surprise me that you have them too, I mean, there are at least three other people out there with the same... attributes. Abalon was the first I thought to do such things. He's lived a long time too."

"From what I understand, he's got some decent psychic abilities." I said.

"Well, if you're into that kind of thing." Lucas said.

"I"ve heard of Abalon before. I don't know if he was the one that worked on my friends and I. From what I got from Ben, they had their gills on their lower back. Someone might have taken his idea, and done what they wanted with it." I said.

"Yeah, it wouldn't surprised me in the least. People around the world love to play God. Why would it be any different a hundred years in the past or future." Lucas muttered.

"I've a friend that could show you if it's the same a hundred years from now." I said.

He stared at me for a moment. I laughed and began to walk towardssea deck, trying to find the shortest route to Darwin's tank. I kept getting strange looks from officers and other people just bumped into me hard. I felt like I was being dragged down into quicksand. The implant beeped, and the increase in emotions around me was almost deafening. I heard voices like a dozen people in a small room talking loudly to be heard over the next person. I sank to the ground, covering my ears, trying to block it out.

"Deinera!" Lucas shouted.

I felt him grip my arms, felt the intense curiosity. It was beginning to drown out the frustration and other intense daily emotions of the SeaQuest crew. Then suddenly there was a blanket of peace. I closed my eyes, a blanket of white pervaded my mind and I sighed, relaxing once again. When I began to remember where I was, I felt someone stroking my hair and speaking softly to me. I opened my eyes and smiled.

"Thanks Ben." I said softly.

"No problem, it's what I'm here for." He said, messing up my hair. I stuck my tongue out at himand smoothed it.

"How did you know to do that Ben?" Lucas asked.

"It's happened before. There was a spike in the implant she has, and it made everything people are feeling and thinking super loud. The only way to bring her out of it is to clear your mind, and hold on until she relaxes. It's almost like having a seizure." Ben said.

"Hard to believe you can clear your mind for more than a minute." Lucas said.

"Yeah, it was hard at first, but I worked on it. We both did, right Deinera?" He asked. I smiled.

"Yeah. it saves a lot of trouble, that's for sure." I said.

"You two get on your way. I've got to go talk to the captain about some of those kids." Ben said, and walked off.

"Ben's a great father, I wish everyone here could see that." I said softly.

"Most of them see the man they knew four years ago. A lot of people can't change in such a short time." Lucas said, turning back to me.

"Having a kid dropped on you does wonders to a person." I said.

"Yeah, finding them half drowned on the beach has gotta be bad too." Lucas said.

I smiled sadly, and nodded. I didn't remember much about that day, but I did remember seeing Ben's face, the first thing I remembered after a long period of darkness, and strange dream like memories that got little clearer as they progressed. Most were of my two friends, they were from Germany, Michael and Ortwin. I had met one in school at some point, and befriended his best friend later on when we met again. I don't know how many years we spent at the labs, but we were young going in. I was sure that I had been in my early twenties, as well as my two friends, before the accident. And I was just as sure that their ages had regressed as well when the accident had happened that sent us, or at least me, where we were. I think there was some side affect of the chemicals and time bending that did that to us.

We began to walk towards the pool again, to speak with Darwin. I did not speak much; Lucas spent most of the time talking about Darwin, the SeaQuest, or what he knew of Ben. What he had known and learned of Ben was before my arrival. He also spoke a little of having been taken by aliens to another planet. If I had been any other person, I would have thought he was trying to joke with me. It had been roughly five years since his first tour with SeaQuest, all tours lasting thirteen months, with a few in between each tour, along with the time it took to rebuild and refit the SeaQuest after Captain Bridger had sent it into a lake of lava.

I spoke little of Ben as my father after Lucas became quiet. I prodded him into speaking at least a little of his own father, and his mother even. I had feelings, almost memories I thought, of my birth parents, more over, the people who created me. Within those feelings I felt from Lucas, something familiar touched me. It stirred those feelings within me. Deep down I knew my parents had been similar. Not caring much for me, doing what they could to get me off their hands, arguing to the point where they separated, and something that seemed like a memory told me that one of them had sold me off to the people that had captured me, helped to lay the trap that caught me, and had caught my friends. I was surprised to feel similar to Lucas, and so very sad about it.

"But you have the Captain; he is much more a father to you than anything, Lucas." I said.

"Yeah. I guess I do. He's wonderful, strict, but the best father I've had." Lucas said.

"I know it sounds strange, but although I do not remember my parents, I feel that Ben is infinitely better than they ever could have been as a set. He is only one, and has done a wonderful job putting up with such a child as me." I said.

"You're not that bad." Lucas said.

"It's not just the way I act; I acted little like other kids my age. It was my unnatural abilities, as you saw before; he had to learn how to help me when things went wrong. He had to reprimand me when I did something wrong using those powers. And he had to help me understand that no matter what, I was more important to him than anyone or anything and that should be all that matters." I said.

"He's right. Don't pay attention to those other people that came with you. It's not worth the effort." He said.

"I'd have thought you'd be all over getting to know them." I said.

"I love the fact that there are more kids my age here, but I've spent so much time around adults, especially military adults, that they seem… pretty superficial." Lucas said.

"That they are." I said with a laugh.

We sat there talking to one another, about little things, and talking to Darwin as well. It was very nice to be able to talk to someone who didn't think of me as nothing more than a freak, or just someone that needed special help. He talked to me like I was an equal. Ben did sometimes, but he spoke to me on a father-daughter level most of the time I was very sorry to have to go back to my room, although Wendy was a wonderful person to talk to as well. We had dinner together, and I knew that sooner or later, I would see Lucas again. I spent much of the rest of that week avoiding my father's charges, and sadly ended up avoiding him as well.

I didn't get the chance to see Lucas much that week either. They were preparing for the Captain and Commander Ford to go to dry land for some sort of conference with their CO about their disappearance months before. We would pretty much have the run of the boat, even though there would be an officer left in command. It was more a research vessel even now, and we were glad that we didn't have to put up with any of the annoyances of a purely military ship.

* * *

alright, Kate I hope thats a bit better. I think the parts it seems most MarySue-ish is where I was having troubles connecting the parts of the story together. I knew what I wanted, just had a little trouble connecting some of the dots. 

Damn... editing this makes me want a mango. sigh I was eating a mango in the last parts of writing this.


	5. Lets go for a Swim

Here's the next chapter. I hope it is up to par. I feel I've disappointed everyone who is a fan of SeaQuest. I've been watching it since a day and a half ago, and am trying to bring my story up to par. I hope this does the job, or at least that it's something worth a mere glance of SeaQuest.

* * *

I sat in the mess hall, watching the students getting their meals for the afternoon. They had decided to take a break a little later than usual, which was alright with some of the servers; it meant they had more time to prepare food for them. But it also meant that the students were very picky about what they ate, not that they hadn't been before that. One of the girls kept complaining about what was being served, and I watched her as she pretty much tore apart the poor server standing there. She poured some spice all over the dish, and took a little bit here and there, leaving it a mess for the people cleaning up after her. I saw her making a mess of some cookies, and felt horrible. The feelings I was getting from her were pure malice, and I really wanted to make her clean it up instead of having the people who were working rather hard to keep them happy. 

I sighed, and making sure that they were all sitting down, began to help the kitchen clean up the mess they had made. They looked at me, thanking me. I smiled, glad that the feelings that I was getting from them were of relief, and not of discomfort at my appearance. I had chosen to use my chameleon reflex a little while aboard the SeaQuest, that way people could get usedtome. My eyes seemed green once more, and my hair was more or less normal, with streaks here and there, only because I didn't want to adhere to the normalcy of the other students, and because it tooktoo much energy to completely change myself around all the time.The students were all snickering, and I knew they were planning something, and no matter how easy it was, I wasn't going to dig through their brains to find out what it was. We found out what it was, when we started finding noodles or other things on the ground. It was disgusting, but I didn't say anything, I just kept cleaning. I thought things like this had gone out of style with the generation I had once been a part of.

"You know, you should sign up full time to clean for these people. Your so good at beinga drudge. It's not like they navy will hire you anyway. I mean, look at you." One of the girls said.

"At least my IQ is higher than that of a sponge. But then again, you're studying them, so I suppose they had to increase their brain power just for you." I said, scathingly.

They just stood there, surprised that I had actually returned their insults. It felt nice for a moment, and then I realized that I had lowered myself to their level. I felt dirty. Their jaws had dropped to the floor it seemed. I looked up at them and gave a smile and decided that I would be like them a moment longer, and give a parting shot.

"Might want to close your mouths, you don't want the last of your brain cells to escape, I know I would. Then again, maybe I'm a bit biased, graduating from such a prestigious college at the age of seventeen, when the lot of you haven't graduated high school." I said, throwing the cloth at their feet and spinning on my heel.

I walked away, listening to the laughter of the officers and other SeaQuest personnel as the students standing there, unable to return my insult. I knew I'd probably suffer their wrath sooner or later, but it felt wonderful to have finally fought back. I just hoped Ben wouldn't be disappointed with me. I know he had taught me better, but I was sick of it by now. Right then I wished that they hadn't managed to convince all points of authority that it was alright to bring students aboard the ship. I was still puzzled at how they managed to do it all. Ben had asked a few kids about my age to give him a hand talking to the people in charge. He mentioned that they had once been a part of this communications node while he was still under the command of SeaQuest. They were really smart, I supposed they might have put in some sweet words to Noyce, either that or they hacked something. It wouldn't have surprised me, Ben was really interested in getting back to the SeaQuest and showing the students what true marine biologists did. He was a great man, and a great father, but not beyond reproach.

"Hey Deinera." Ben said to me, at dinner.

"Hi Ben. How was your day?" I asked, smiling.

"It was alright. These students are pretty sharp for kids. Then again, they don't hold a candle to you and Lucas. I heard that you exchanged a few words with them." He said, looking at me. I looked down at my hands.

"I'm sorry Ben. I know you taught me better." I said softly.

"I'm proud of you, it didn't come to hitting and you didn't use any of your abilities to help you. Just remember, words can sometimes hurt much more than punches." Ben said, smiling at me.

"I will Ben. I was just tired of what they say about you, about me, and what they've been doing to make these people miserable." I said.

"I'm glad that you're helping them out. These people are wonderful people, even if they aren't the same as when I left. But they need respect. I'm trying to teach these kids that, but they don't seem to be learning that all too well I suppose." Ben said.

I nodded, and we finished eating, Ben telling me about the time he had tried to eat a real hamburger with black market real beef. I reminded him that I came from a time that allowed the eating of that very same hamburger, but that I was more inclined towards not eating it, it wasn't all that great. He only smiled and laughed, telling me that it tastes much better when you can't have the real thing. We went our separate ways for the rest of the evening, and I prayed that the other students would be more considerate now.

"Hey! Deinera, where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"I'm heading towards my room. I just had dinner with my dad, and I've got nothing better to do." I said.

"Alright, how would you like to meet Tony?" He asked.

"Tony?" I asked.

"He's kinda like you. He's got gills I mean." Lucas said.

"Sure. It would be nice to talk to him." I said, smiling.

We walked towards Lucas's room, which he shared with Tony. Apparently Tony had at one point been some sort of thief, and once they tried to transport him on the SeaQuest, he tried to escape through the tubes, but had been frightened by Darwin. In the end he signed up to work for the Captain, and did some wonderful work for them with Darwin outside the ship.

"Hey Lucas. Who's your friend?"

"This is Deinera. Deinera, this is Tony." Lucas said.

"Hey, nice hair." Tony said, shaking my hand.

"Thanks. Lucas told me you've got gills as well." I said.

"Yeah. I do." Tony said slowly. "Wait, you've got gills?"

"Yes, I do. But I doubt they are any better than yours. I received them long before you did." I said.

"I doubt that, you're too young." Tony said.

"Actually Tony, she's kinda not. If you go chronologically, then she's probably older than you. Physically though, she's my age." Lucas said.

"What, you mean like she's some sort of time traveler?" Tony asked.

"Sort of. It wasn't me, but a friend of mine that brought us to this time from the past. There was an accident, and we weren't being too careful combining our abilities to escape. And somehow we regressed in age." I said.

"What?" Tony asked.

"She came forward in time, but got younger instead of older." Lucas said.

"Kind of like Merlin. He lived backwards through time a lot, instead of growing older, he was said to grow younger, and appeared in many places and times as an advisor." I said.

"Yeah, sounds great. Want to go for a swim with Darwin?" Tony asked.

"Sure. Lucas, is it alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can get the ok from the Captain." He said.

"I meant with you, I'd hate to leave you alone, especially with those other students here." I said.

"If I can find a respirator, I'll join you." He said.

Soon enough I was in the pool on sea deck, and we were in wet suits, getting ready to go outside. It was wonderful to be out in the water again. I had sat down to wait, and saw Ben walk by. I asked Darwin to wait for me a moment, and ran to him. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and he laughed.

"What's this about?" He asked.

"I'm going to go outside SeaQuest with Tony, Lucas and Darwin." I said. "I wanted you to know in case you got worried."

"Just make sure that Lucas and Darwin are good for air, and why not bring something to eat? I'm sure you'll all be hungry and with all these underwater caves, you'll have a nice place to have a picnic." Ben said.

"Thanks dad." I said, and ran back. I felt the happiness again when I called him dad. Maybe I would be used to it soon. I didn't know.

By the time we were ready, Tony had a small bag attached to his belt, with flashlights and power sources for them. I had a bag of my own with some food in water proof packages, along with a few other things we might need. We helped Lucas and Darwin get set up for our underwater excursion. Tony and I dove in, and waited for the pressure to change as they opened the doors for us to leave. We had a headset each to keep in contact with one another.

I showed Tony some underwater maneuvers that he hadn't even seen before, but then again, as a girl I probably was much more flexible than him, not to mention younger. Darwin darted around, speaking to me mostly since I didn't need the vocorder to understand him. My propensity for languages was an asset even more now, and I was very happy. Darwin had to dart up for air every five minutes or so, but that was alright, he was catching his own lunch while doing so.

"Hey guys, I think something is wrong with my air tank. We need to get back to the SeaQuest." Lucas said.

I felt something rush past me, and at first thought it was a fish. Tony grabbed Lucas around the waist and began swimming away with him, towards one of the caves. Darwin had gone up for air, but was coming back down. I let him know what was going on. He darted up and took Lucas, much faster than Tony could have. I began swimming as hard as I could to catch up. The water was beginning to churn, alive with weaponry. I sent out a wave of psychic energy, hoping that any in the area wouldn't see us any longer. I didn't know if my chameleon reflex would would be able to cover such a large area, or be able to fool everyone out there.

I was beginning to black out. I couldn't breath, the oxygen wasn't coming out of the water like it should, and I was slowing down, unable to breath. Tony saw this, and grabbed me. He guided us over to the cave we had seen earlier, and we dove through the intricate passageways to get to safety. I dropped the wave of energy, and felt a little more oxygen as I concentrated. But there was something in my system now that was shutting down my ability to use my gills. I didn't think it was permanent, I hoped it wasn't. We came up under a ledge, and swam harder. I could feel myself blacking out again. I knew it wouldn't be too long before I passed out and drowned.

I didn't remember much of reaching the surface, but I felt Tony dragging me out of the water slowly, with Lucas helping a moment later. I started gushing water like some sort of strange fountain, opening my bleary eyes to see Tony kneeling worriedly over me. I gasped for air, sitting up. He put his arm around me; I could feel myself shaking against him. I looked back at Lucas, who was sitting on the ground, more pale than normal.

"I'll be fine in a moment." I whispered, coughing.

"What was that?" Tony asked.

"I think it was a colonies defense, otherwise we probably wouldn't have been attacked like that." Lucas said.

"I'm not sure Lucas. Bridger thought this might happen, and I can't say that I'm surprised it's happening so soon." I said.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"The kind of person I am, the kind of people my friends are? Something was bound to get out, especially with the big mouths of those students on SeaQuest. They don't understand that secret means don't tell." I gasped.

"Don't talk; take a few minutes to orient yourself. It's happened to me before. You'll be fine in a few minutes." Tony said.

I nodded, and Lucas began fixing his gear so we could get out of there. I tried to dial up SeaQuest, but we were either out of range, or something was blocking our signal. I sighed, digging through the bag at my side hoping to find something that could help me regain my energy. Tony was walking around with one of the flashlights checking out the cavern. Darwin was watching us from his place in the water, curious as to what was happening.

"There are people out there Darwin, they want to hurt us. We can't get back to the SeaQuest. Would you be able to tell Bridger where we are? Tell him what is happening?" I asked.

"He can't understand you, we don't have the vocorder." Lucas said.

"We understand one another well enough without it." I said.

Darwin dove under the water, and was gone in moments. Lucas looked at me, curious and suspicious all at once. I shrugged, smiling at him. He turned back to his equipment, hopefully he would find some way to fix it, so that he could put air in, and stop it from leaking. It wouldn't do much good for me, but at least we'd be able to get someone to SeaQuest to alert them to what was going on. Hopefully it was a colony's defense system, just gone awry, and not someone who was looking for power.


	6. The only voice is my own

Sorry it took so long!

Alright, to let you all know, especially you my faithful reviewers, that Deinera's powers, aren't going to be there the whole time. I wanted to give Ben some background with caring for her, so that he would know what to do, and appear to know what to do. Her powers are going to drastically go down. Some of them will stick around, but they will be abilities she has through her connection with the other two. Its the only way I could really explain her powers, because I wanted Ben to look better... sorry if that doesn't make sense.

* * *

I fell asleep on the rocks, which were warm from the sunshine. We had found a cave that had a hole in the ceiling, and it had warmed the rock I had chosen. And I was very happy we had decided to stay in the warm coastal region we had been in. I knew that had SeaQuest been gone much longer than it had, the world would be in a worse place than it was now. A different line of time had presented itself to me in one of my few waking moments in the first few months of my time with Ben. It had been of a return, a decade later, a world at war, and the loss of many crew members, not to mention a new captain that had little heart and no patience for the likes of people like Lucas.

I was glad that_this_ timeline had prevailed.

I sat up, probably hours later, a military blanket covering me. Lucas was sleeping close by, and Tony was in the water with Darwin. I was glad that he was back, and I put the blanket on Lucas, and walked to the water. Sitting on the edge, I slipped back into the water, and swam out to the two.

"How are you doin?" Tony asked.

"I feel much better, but I'm not sure about my gills." I said softly.

"Yeah, wanna check it out? Darwin is willing to help you out." Tony said.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I'm not as good as you, but I've got somethin' up in here." Tony said, tapping his head. I nodded with a smile.

I dove down, Darwin trailing me with a peppering of clicks and whistles that told me how happy he was to be in the water. We went down pretty deep. I could hold my breath pretty long, but soon that would run out. With an internal sigh, I began to attempt breathing with my gills. There was a searing pain as I tried, but I could breathe a little. I grabbed Darwin's dorsal fin and we swam up to the surface again. Tony helped me out of the water as I coughed a little. Grabbing the blanket Lucas was offering up he wrapped me in it and looked in my eyes, and then reached back, examining my gills.

"Wow, I don't know what is going on here, they shouldn't be sealing up like this. This isn't healing, it's like they've been glued or something. It's not as bad as it was before, so maybe it's just some sort of paralysis." Tony said.

"I think that maybe it was a chemical in the water, and I got caught in it." I said.

"We'll have to get Wendy to check you out." Tony said.

I nodded, shivering. The sun was going to set soon and we needed to get out of there. There was no way to build a fire to keep warm, and only so many of the military blankets. We didn't have much for food either, although I was sure Darwin would be more than happy to help find us food. I asked him about Bridger and the SeaQuest and he told me that they were close by, and that they were searching for whomever it was that attacked us before. I wasn't sure how they would retrieve us; the way into the cave was much too small for even a rescue vessel.

We talked softly after making sure that we had split food up enough to last us a little while before attempting sushi. We lay down close to each other so we could share the blankets and keep warm. It was strange being so close to someone else, I couldn't get to sleep because I was trying to shut everything out. I fell asleep trying to figure out what exactly might have caused my gills to shut down like they did. My last thought was of the implant, and how it might have something to do with that.

We woke up a few hours later, hearing some strange noises. I was sure that we were no longer alone in the cave, so we took up what defenses we could, having not brought any weapons. Darwin popped up again, letting us know that there were divers in the water, but they weren't from the SeaQuest. The SeaQuest however was much closer than before and searching for us. I let the others know this, and told them that we should make a break for the ship. Darwin would have to help me, and Tony would help Lucas.

We dove into the water, making sure to avoid the other divers in the area. We managed to pass them before they realized what was happening, but not before they could react. I felt something tighten around my foot, cutting into the thin flesh there. I bent down, glad that my flexibility hadn't suffered, and brought out a sharp stone from the walls around us, severing the twine around my ankle, and swimming on after Darwin. I grabbed his dorsal fin, feeling us glide through the ocean at great speed. I knew my oxygen would run out unless I could get my gills to work. It was painful, and I knew that I would probably be attracting sharks if I tried any harder.

So fast I thought that maybe I had blacked out, I was being pulled out of the moon pool and into someone's arms, spewing water from my lungs. He wouldn't let me go, and I didn't care, I wanted to be in the safest place I knew, and I knew that Ben wouldn't let me get hurt. He was shouting at someone, and there was so much noise that for once I heard very little with my abilities, and more with the normal five senses. I felt him lift me up and we were in the infirmary in mere moments.

"Deinera, are you alright? Can you hear me?" Ben asked softly. I nodded.

"Father. I'm sorry; I told you we'd be alright." I said, my throat rasping.

"It's alright; it's not your fault. Things happen, we all know that." Ben said.

I smiled, and watched him look around, trying to find Wendy. He kept a tight hold of my hand, and I could feel the intense worry and fear radiating off him, the thought that he never wanted to let go of me again. I saw Lucas come in, nursing a cut above his eye. Tony seemed unscathed, and I wondered just what had happened out there. I felt a stinging sensation along my neck, close to my gills. My ankle hurt pretty badly as well. I knew that something had been happening, and that I had probably passed out from pain. Which also made me wonder just how bad off I was.

I fell asleep with Ben standing over me, hoping that I would be alright. The emotions and our swim to the SeaQuest were exhausting. The last thing I felt was a prick as Wendy began her tests to see what had happened to me out there. When I woke up next, Ben was asleep beside me, his mouth open. It made me remember the first time I had displayed anything of basic emotion outwardly. I had laughed as I tossed something into his mouth, causing him to wake up. I had made sure it wouldn't choke him. It was a faded memory of something before, and the laughter from the past and Ben's reactions caused me to laugh out loud.

It had been strange. I felt emotions, but not strongly. I could feel something deep down that was trying to rip through the curtain of stoicism that wanted to laugh, cry, or scream outright. Ben had been so happy at that basic emotion that he had forgotten what had him awake in the first place, he picked me up and spun me around, hugging me close. And with that break in the wall, a bombardment of other emotions began surfacing at random points, and I cried and laughed at the same time for days, for no apparent reason.

I saw Ben open his eyes, jumping up when he saw me there smiling at him. I sat up and hugged him fiercely, glad that he was there for me. Wendy came in a moment later, always aware of just what a person would need. She helped me stand, making sure that my injured ankle could support me long enough to get back to our room, where she would dig out a pair of old crutches for me to use. Once I was ready, we were on our way to the room, Ben walking with me since Wendy was still on duty.

Lucas met us there, carrying a few things. The cut above his eye looked like it was beginning to heal, and he seemed no worse for wear than I was. Once I was at my cot, Ben had to leave, being called down to the microbiology station to reprimand one of the students there for misbehavior. Lucas sat nearby, obviously shy. I lay on my bed, listening to the silence around us. All I could feel was Lucas's embarrassment, at what I couldn't tell.

"It's alright Lucas. We're all alive and well." I said.

"Oh, it's not that. It's just that I can't believe it took me this long to figure out some way I could remove most of that implant. And I thought your father would be here to keep an eye on you." He said.

"Oh." I said, detecting a faint undercurrent in his thoughts. "That's alright. Ben trusts you not to be stupid."

"You'd be surprised." Lucas said.

"No, you forget I am from a time that makes the sixties look tame. Kids our age did some stupid stuff back then." I said.

"I see. Well, we should just get on with this. I don't know how much it will hurt, so I want to do some tests and stuff. If it looks like it's going to cause some problems, we'll have to get Wendy back here so she can help. But I'm the only one here that can probably crack the dinosaur tech that's implanted on your neck." He said.

"Don't knock it. This damn thing was WAY ahead of the stuff we had out at the time. And I know it wasn't THAT long ago." I said.

"Yeah, well you know us hackers, always on top of the tech. This stuff was out of style years ago." Lucas said with a laugh.

I smiled, and moved my hair out of the way so he could have full access to the implant. He got out a few tools and I felt him start to mess around with the smaller controls. A few hours later and he was looking at the insides of it, frowning. I could feel that most of the base commands had been overridden and shut off, but there was still a lot of things to do with the implant. Wendy had arrived and was keeping an eye on me, having moved us somewhere more comfortable, since my neck was really beginning to hurt from the position we were in. It was much easier after that.

I woke up hours later, feeling some sort of jolt course through me. Lucas sat there, rubbing his eyes. I wondered if he had fallen asleep and a tool had slipped or something. He began to put the casing back onto the implant, too tired to continue.

"I did what I could. I can't see straight enough to do anymore. I shut off most of the programming that they put in there. There were impulses being sent out to your brain that would shut things down, like your gills. You were able to bypass it on your own a little, but not without it hurting REALLY bad. Now you don't have to worry. There was one in there that shut down your emotions, but it was fried. I'm thinking you took care of that one on your own." Lucas said.

"Thanks Lucas, I really appreciate it." I said.

"No problem, some of that stuff was programmed to kill you if it didn't receive special directions or something like that. I don't know what it was supposed to be receiving, but there are no worries about that anymore." He said.

I stood up, almost falling over.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm still trying to get used to not having all of the implant on. I also felt this jolt a few moments ago. I don't think it did anything, I can breath and walk, just maybe weakened my muscles for a moment or something." I said.

He helped me upright, and walked me to my bed, leaving a moment later. I lay down and fell asleep almost immediately. I was surprised at how tired I was, considering the amount of sleep I had been getting. I guessed that it was probably my body trying to catch up, and adjust to what had happened in the last twenty four hours or so.


	7. Tears of a Child

Sorry this took so long. I'm actually writing a sequel now... :Sigh: I'm going to end up asking a question of ya'll dealing with Deinera. And now... another note on her abilities.

There's a bond between Deinera and her two guy friends. This allows her to sometimes use their powers when they are in close vicinity. They each have a specialization or two. Read the bottom of the chapter to see an explanation of the three.

And I must apologize ahead of time for my use of Lucas, but come on! He's like the geeks playboy on SeaQuest! hehehe

* * *

As I adjusted to the things Lucas had done to the implant, the weeks began to seep by. I saw little of the students, and little more of my father. I missed Ben a lot. I had grown used to his presence while I was recovering, and his constant checking up as Lucas continued to mess around with my implant. The meeting that the Captain and Lt. Commander had been scheduled to attend was postponed because of unrest in another part of the sea that needed the mediator SeaQuest to intervene. I was glad, because I still felt unsure about the safety of SeaQuest while her Captain was gone. 

Lucas and I spent more time together than was needed to work on removing more of the implant. We had little better to do, avoiding the others on the ship that were our age. The Captain had noticed the animosity towards me growing, and decided that it was better I be kept busy with Lucas instead of allowed to range through the ship and chance meeting the students. I agreed wholeheartedly. Lucas was a great person, even though he seemed very shy.

I was glad that the only other person on board that could read minds didn't delve into them. And I was happy to be the only empath for once. I feared that the friendship I had with Lucas was evolving into something else completely, and that the feelings I had could be tangible to everyone else even if I tried to hide them. I wasn't sure about anything, and many times my thoughts were clouded with worries. Ben noticed this, and commented on it.

"Deinera, what's on your mind? You seem so preoccupied all the time now. It seems like your trying to bury something, but having a hard time. You know you shouldn't do that, and we're here for you. It took so long to bring you out of that emotionless state; I don't want to see the person I care so much about force herself into something as dull and listless as you were before." He said.

"I know Ben. I don't want to be like that ever again. But it is hard to say. I'm not sure if anything I'm feeling right now is true, or if it's just because I've come to know him like this in such a small space." I said.

"I see. Don't worry Deinera, things will work out great. I'm sure you'll understand what you're feeling, and don't worry about anything. I think he sees you as the wonderful and beautiful person that I see." He said. I blushed. "It's alright Deinera. Your old enough for relationships. Even though I want to keep you a little girl, to spend the time with you that I missed out, your childhood, and give you the type of life that your real parents apparently hadn't, I can't keep you forever. I didn't want to see that before, and I still don't. But I know that if I try to keep you forever, that the world will suffer for it, and I don't want to be that selfish."

"I love you father." I whispered, hugging him tightly.

"I love you too Deinera. Don't ever forget that, no matter what happens. And if you end up returning to that life in the past, don't forget me. And don't let them make you forget. Don't let them take the beauty and color away from you." Ben said, looking at me.

"I won't. I don't ever want to go back, my life is here, with the family you made." I said. "If I get taken back, I will do what I can to come back."

"Deinera, your life may be in the past, don't let me take you from something you could accomplish." Ben said.

"There was nothing for me in the past." I said.

"There were your friends. Michael and Ortwin."

"But they are here. If we were to meet again, my life would be complete." I said.

"They might not feel the same." Ben said.

"I think they do. I mean, they hated that life as much as I did. Michael had been planning to jump us some time else for weeks before the accident." I said.

"Deinera, it's alright. If you go back, I won't stop caring for you." Ben said.

"But there will always be that thought of a happier time, of a time I gave my heart away, to people who shared theirs with me." I said, bursting into tears.

I felt him wrap his arms around me tightly, as he whispered in my ear. I felt a bubble around me, and it was filled with Ben's feelings for me. Mostly love between a father and his daughter, but there was intense worry that I would leave, and underneath that a sadness that he knew he had to let me go sometime. And the sadness he knew he would feel if I disappeared back to the past. I sent my love of him to him, so he would know I wouldn't leave him ever.

"What do you plan to do about your life?" He asked softly, holding my tearstained face in his hands.

"Live all my days like they were my last here. No matter if I die first, or go back." I said.

"I don't want you to fold up and give up Deinera. I'd hate to see the beautiful butterfly you have become, get crushed like that. You're stronger than that." Ben said.

I nodded, and he wiped away my tears, hugging me again. I felt safety in his arms, and hope. He let go, and stood up, tousling my hair. I looked up at him as he looked out the window of Wendy's room. She was on duty once more, and he had stopped by to spend time with me. I couldn't read his emotions, and wouldn't touch his thoughts. He was very good at making sure I couldn't read his emotions. He had learned in our first months that any frustration or anger he was feeling I picked up on, and became more withdrawn. It wasn't that he was controlling his emotions, just how they were broadcast.

"I want you to live your life to the fullest Deinera, but be careful. I don't want you hurt. I know it's a part of life to get a scraped knee or a scratched elbow, or even a broken heart, it helps you to grow and teaches. But as a new father, and one of only a half dozen years, I want your life to be painless, especially knowing that somewhere, somehow, in the past someone thought to hurt you in the worst way. I don't understand why anyone would want to do that to you or anyone you might know, you're such a wonderful person, and anyone that befriends you must be the same. I can't stand that there are things I can't do, some times I can't help you and it hurts me even worse." Ben said.

"I know Ben. I can feel it when you are like that. I try hard to make sure that I won't be a cause of pain to you." I said.

"I know Deinera, but it's a part of life. You get hurt, you heal, you learn. And when you become a parent, no matter if it's in your past, or this future, you will know what I mean, about wanting to give your child a painless life. And I envy the man who you will spend the rest of your life with, but not too much. He will get to see every wonderful thing about you, but never get the chance to see it grow, like I did. And for that, I am so grateful." He said.

Ben turned to me and smiled. He kissed my forehead and said goodbye. The students were no doubt anxious to head up to the surface. They were getting a day on land to give them a break from the military style of the research bays, and the darkness of the ocean. I didn't mind one bit. My father had to go with them, and he was worried about leaving me alone. I had to remind him that I wouldn't be alone, even if Lucas decided not to come over to continue the work on my implant; I had Darwin and Tony to keep me company.

"Be careful with that boy. He may seem shy, but I think it's all an act to get girls like you feeling safe." Ben said with a laugh.

He left the cabin, and I sat back and sighed. They would be leaving in a few hours, and he had to help them prepare some things to take to dry land. Things he had told them not to bring but they had, and make a list of things they would need. They would be getting some more supplies for their studies on SeaQuest. When it came time for them to depart, I got up and headed to the launch bay to say goodbye. I hugged him and watched as he got all the other students in the launch. Lucas came up beside me, standing close. I felt a blush creep up my body, and my thoughts clouded my mind once more. I almost didn't hear Ben shouting to me that he would find me a present so I could remember dry land.

Lucas and I headed off to Wendy's room and mine as I began to think of it. We spent a little time talking, trying to figure out how we might remove the implant all together. We didn't want to do it without Wendy being there, so we stuck to disabling more of the intricate systems that were put in there. It had surprised Lucas at the complexity of the older technology. Since it was wired through my spine and into the base of my brain, most of the motor skills I performed had to go through it. We had learned that I was still able to do things without it, just not with the superhuman grace I had had before. He had told me that I was like a robot, I couldn't do anything wrong, the programming wouldn't allow for me to trip and fall, slip, or anything. It made sure that I was perfectly balanced.

He stopped sooner than he had most other times, since a lot of what he had to do dealt with things only Wendy could really monitor. He put the piece back on that allowed for it to be waterproof and helped me to stand. My equilibrium was still something to get used to, and I was amazed at the feeling of lightheadedness I got from standing too quickly. It preoccupied me enough to not realize he hadn't let go of my hand. I blinked slowly, realizing the contact was still there, and feeling myself begin to blush again.

"I hope you don't mind Deinera." He said softly.

He kissed me softly, something that made my vision explode in color. I thought for a minute it was my hair that I was seeing. Then he stopped, looking me in the eyes, his usual bout of shyness taking over, and I could feel myself blushing. We said our goodbyes quietly, trying to figure out what had happened. I sat down on my cot, touching my lips.

* * *

Deinera: empathy and languages (animal and human). She is also highly intelligent, like Lucas. The general consensus back in their time was that children of such high intelligence also possessed other skills.  
Ortwin: Regeneration (Can heal himself and others) it was a technique he pushed, because his parents were doctors, and he hated to see others get hurt. This is such a strong ability that the other, a kind of technokesis (Something to do with computers) hardly exists  
Michael: Time bending and jumping. (Can bend the time stream so that the 'jump' isn't such a distance.) It's such a sporadic ability that sometimes it doesn't exist at all when he wants to use it. He practiced it only when the ones that had caught them weren't testing him. He has other abilities, telepathy. Another power he has is a side effect of time bending. He can see lines of time, different threads, things that could have been, and things that might be, a kind of precognition. He is a telepath. Currently, Deinera can use this ability, the implant is not completely offline yet, so there is that small connection. 

How they came to the Future: There was a huge accident (Caused by another of the gifted children) in the institute (think of the movie Firestarter:Rekindled) Michael didn't have a lot of energy to bend time and concentrate on keeping them safe, let alone know where they were going. Tapping into Ortwin's power, they arrived in the future, not only in one piece, but younger. Something had merged their powers, reversing their age by about four years. Via the implant, Deinera has used their powers, but it's very rare. Now that the implant is being deactivated, this will go away, along with her heightened empathy.

Is this alright to those of you who were asking about how they got there?


	8. Ghosts of my memories

Alright. Here we go with the next chapter. I hope that these go well. I've not yet figured an ending for this story. I'm rewriting a part of the ending, because it just seems to fantastical to be a part of the SeaQuest world. Again, I must apologize for my use of Lucas. Also, as soon as I start putting the sequel up, I'm going to bring up a poll kinda thing...

* * *

_Somewhere in the Ocean..._

There was a lot of chaos aboard a small submarine sitting in a little alcove in the sea. It was watching the SeaQuest intently, the people aboard tense and strung high. In front of them was the biggest submarine ever, at one point a purely military vessel. It might be for mostly research now, but still held a nice stockpile of weaponry to keep the peace. All knew that should the SeaQuest open fire on them, they would not survive it. Many were ready to abandon ship, and would have at this point if the one in command hadn't control of the escape pods. The man was ex military and set on a very fine wire. They were pretty sure that he was nuts, but too scared to say anything.

He had been asked to take on the command of the submarine by the UEO. They all thought Bridger and his crew were long dead, and although they had searched and searched, and hadn't found the SeaQuest, they were convinced it would be found, or they'd build another. Then miraculously it appeared out of nowhere, seemingly, and the crew was still intact. This man hated the UEO, and he hated Bridger. He knew that aboard that city like ship was a group of students, children of politicians rich enough to convince the UEO to let them study aboard with the research crews. And that Bridger was going to dry land to speak with the UEO, and give a full report on what had caused the ship to disappear. Many thought aliens, and he knew it was a lie, something to cover up the disappearance, hiding the SeaQuest, so that they could rip it away from him.

He wanted revenge. He was going to attack the SeaQuest when her captain, and his second in command were dry. He would destroy her, and the children on that boat. Along with the pesky kid genius that Bridger was so attached to. He had also gotten word that there was a girl aboard, in care of one of the past crew members. She had certain abilities and no memory of her past. His intelligence had mentioned to him that she was allegedly the girl who had disappeared with two young men close to her age at least a decade before hand. It didn't get much more specific, except that when they had disappeared together, they were about twenty one years old, making that impossible for this girl to be the same, as she was the same age as the Wolenczack brat.

"Tell me when those bastards leave the ship. I want to be ready to bring it down." He said.

"Yes sir." The radar tech said

"Good." Captain Hudson said, steepling his fingers.

The crew turned nervously back to their assignments, wishing that they hadn't accepted this mission. They were now AWOL, with a crazy commanding officer, preparing to attack one of the most advanced submarines on earth, one that still had enough firepower to become a full fledged attack vehicle when it had to, when the situation called for it. And in a short time the situation would most definitely call for it. They knew things would not end well for them. But it would be much worse if they attempted mutiny.

* * *

_Back at the SeaQuest_

"I think there is something out there Ben. But Bridger won't listen to me." I said.

"I know sweetheart, but it's the UEO that won't listen to you. If they can't hear it from Wendy that it's there, then they won't hear it. And even then they're less inclined to believe. It's not your fault. You technically aren't supposed to be able to do this kind of stuff." Ben replied.

"I know, it's just very frustrating that I know something is out there, and that I know it's angry. There's so much animosity towards us. And the Captain. He can't go Ben." I said.

"It might be those damn kids; you know how much they have against you, and against the Captain for accepting you. Besides we can't stop him, or the UEO from doing anything once they've made the order. He's listened to what you have to say, and believe me, he'd rather be here than talking to the head cheese, but he can't. So, we've got the officer of the day, the officer he's leaving in charge, as well as great security personnel. And there's you and Lucas, two of the brightest kids I've ever seen, or ever will. I'm sure you'll be able to do something about it." Ben said.

"I hope so."

"I know so." He replied, hugging me. "They'll be gone for a week. Two at the most. What's the worse that could happen?"

Something else had been bothering me for the longest time. Well, not really longest, but for a little while at least. As Lucas was finishing the removal of the implant, my abilities didn't seem to diminish all that much, only the grace and balance I had seemed to have in abundance. But the strangest part was, I was feeling something very strange, but familiar to me. I couldn't place it, and didn't know if I really wanted to. I pondered it every time I found myself with nothing to do. My father was getting really busy trying to keep the other kids in line. I hoped that they would go dry as soon as possible to visit with families.

They were going to be staying on SeaQuest for a while longer however, just my luck. Lucas and I weren't allowed on the bridge since the Captain wasn't there. We had little else to do but wander about the decks, trying to avoid as much of the students as humanly possible. We spent a lot of our time in the moon pool, playing with Darwin. Much of that time I spent looking over my shoulder for the ghosts of my memories. At one point Lucas pulled me into a corner where no one could see us, and looked me in the eye for a long moment. I was absorbed into the ocean of his eyes, and melted into his arms when he kissed me.

* * *

_Out in the Ocean_

The man he had aboard the SeaQuest had come back. In front of him, Hudson now had pictures of the girl he had been told about. She was often seen in an old SeaQuest navy cap, hiding her garish hair. The multitude of colors would have seemed beautiful and jewel-like to anyone else, but to Hudson it was ugly. Her eyes were the most alien that he had seen. Except for one. He threw them onto the desk.A picture of the young girl, swimming in the dolphin's pool, with the Wolenczack brat. It slid towards the young man that now stood in front of him. The child really.

"You led us right to them. And now, we'll have your friends." Hudson said.

"No. I do not think so." The young man replied, his voice thick with an accent. He touched the picture in front of him, a sad smile on his face.

"Oh, but I do. And because you refused to cooperate, when we do get your friends, she'll be the first to get the welcome present." Hudson said, slamming his fist down on the picture, leaving a small knife imbedded in her back. The young man winced.

"I do not cooperate because I cannot alter the lines of time. That is not my strength. I do not cooperate because I know that no matter what happens to me, I know they will be free of the destruction and death that plagued our youth. And I will not cooperate with you in capturing them. We would rather die then go back to that." The young man spat out. The implant on his neck beeped, bringing him to his knees.

"Ah, it's good to know those implants work huh? Take him back to the brig." Hudson said. "And you know kid, I'm going to enjoy letting the two of you watch what I'm going to do to her. The two of you put me through hell, you wouldn't bring me my ship, and then you let your friend escape. When I'm through with her, you'll both wish you were dead."

Hudson let go of the young man's hair, seeing that the pain from the implant had caused him to black out. The two had been found, a hundred miles apart, but had been brought together in Germany. They were going to be shipped to the United States, seeing as the implants they wore were from a company based there. They had certainly been of European descent, and origin. They had been happy to see one another at first, but spoke little to one another, or anyone else for that matter. They never left one another's side, and seemed to be incomplete to some people. Then they had been handed to Hudson after he had been told the SeaQuest and its crew was back in the water, and continuing their work. His job was to deliver them to the U.S. But then he had been planning his revenge, and found out who they really were.

He didn't care to know their names, although the men around him used them often enough. They were old names. From the past they allegedly came from, the names might have seemed normal, and nowadays those names seemed to be coming back into popularity in some parts of the world. Hudson sat back down at his desk, looking at the picture, noticing that ink was leaking from one of his pens, making it look like the picture bled. He watched it, thinking of the girl, the black blood seeping from the knife wound on the photo. He wondered if her blood would be just as black, or perhaps it would still be the same as his. There was a knock at his door.

"Enter."

"Captain, The SeaQuest is sitting in the waters ahead of us. Bridger and Ford left for the UEO headquarters three days ago, and it was called here for a qualm."

"Good. Prepare for attack. I will be out momentarily."

He stood as the private left. He pulled out a small picture. It had three people in it, and was an older type of photograph. The figures were happy. A girl, laughing outright, mirth in her green eyes as the wind blew her brown hair into the face of one of her companions, with sandy blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. He was making a face, and tickling her it appeared. Helping him was another young man, a little darker in skin tone than the other two, dark brown hair, and deep blue eyes. They looked like they were almost hugging one another. She was in-between her two male friends, around her neck was something they all wore, a crescent moon. The two young men wore them on their belts however.

The captain then pulled out a photo, this one newer, but of the young man who had the sandy blonde hair and strangely cornflower blue eyes, though younger than the picture of the three together. He looked angry and frustrated. His hair had this strange silver and green streak. It was a bit longer than the older picture, and in a ponytail. His eyes were no longer cornflower blue, but white, with powder blue for what would be the whites of a normal persons eyes. He let it drift to the floor, grounding it in with his heel, making sure that the young face was marred.

"Michael." Hudson said.

Next came the young girl with rainbow hair and rainbow eyes, with whites the same powder blue of Michael's eyes. She was not smiling in this photo either. Behind her stood Ben, an ex Lieutenant, and adopted father to the girl. She had been found far from where Michael had been found. Her hair looked matted and wet. Her eyes were vacant of any emotion, and haunted with something that Hudson could only guess at. Neither Deinera nor Michael was rumored to have many memories of their lives before they had been taken by the secret government that stole such exceptional children. She had been sold by her mother to these people, and in so being betrayed, had affected a sort of betrayal herself. But that did not destroy the strong bonds of friendship. This picture joined Michael's on the floor.

"Deinera."

Then he pulled out the newest photo. Gone was the deep blue eyes of before, instead pure black pools, liquid fear and anger bubbled beneath the solid exterior. Instead of the powder blue of the two others, the black radiated outward, lightening in color. It was a strange and mesmerizing effect. The only radical difference with his hair was the dark blue streaks that frosted his hair. Beneath the tan skin there seemed to be a translucency. Emotions wanting to burst through, to scald any close by. The picture had been taken in the brig, for records. It had been taken mere moments after Michael's had, and seconds after, Michael had disappeared. He had little if any memories. He was strong, always making sure that the other two would be protected. Hudson laughed, putting a cigarette through the photo, dropping the smoldering parchment on the others, which too began to smolder.

"Ortwin." He laughed again. "You soon will be together again. And then, I will use all of you to make this world pay."

Hudson walked out onto his bridge, knowing that in mere weeks, his bridge would be aboard the ship that now serenely floated before him, unaware that soon the ship would be under attack, and they would take it, making sure that none that saw his face were left alive. As soon as Bridger received the news, he would return to his precious boat, to find the kid he had grown to love, bled onto the floor of that boat. He laughed at the images of carnage.

"Captain?"

"Fire on the SeaQuest. Take no prisoners. If an escape pod is launched, it will be fired on." Hudson said.

"But sir! We're part of the UEO! Those are OUR people!"

"You will follow orders. As of now, we will be known as the Micronesians. And the sub will be destroyed in the fire fight, ending it effectively, and also putting our good Micronesian friends in the bad graces of the UEO. War and chaos. Can't you smell it?" He said.

"I can't fire on our own people sir."

"Then you will go down with the ship." Hudson said, he signaled and a mercenary removed the man physically. "Fire!"


	9. SeaQuest: Under Attack

_YAY_ more work! It's been a slow summer so far. I can't load up files to work in from this computer, so I have to go with one of my flat mates to her campus and load files from there... it's annoying!

Anyway. Please tell me that your still reading this! I know I was stupid in the beginning, but I need to know what needs improvement, and there was the request to know more about how they got to the future and such. I did explain it at the end of a chapter...sorry and all.. but I will put more in there about how they got there.

_

* * *

_

_Upworld-Pearl Harbor_

Bridger couldn't understand what the hell he was seeing. He had gotten a call in the middle of the third meeting he had been called to since arriving in that god forsaken place, in all honesty he was glad. He was sick of the meetings, sick of the questions, and most of all sick of the fact that no one understood the gravity of what had happened. There had been an alien war, one that could have traveled to earth, involved the earth much more deeply than any of them could have estimated.

But none of that mattered. It all paled in comparison to what he was witnessing now. It was as if the world had stopped spinning. His head throbbed and his heart seemed to stop beating, all he could think of was Lucas and he wanted to scream.

The SeaQuest was under attack.

* * *

_On the SeaQuest- before initial attack_

"Sir, our sensors have been giving me funny data." Ortiz said.

"What do you mean?" The commanding officer asked.

"Well, it's like someone put a blanket over them. They can't see anything out there but ocean." Ortiz said, feeling a bit foolish.

"Isn't that what's out there?"

"No, there's more out there than just water. Where are all the fish?" Ortiz said.

"He's right. Something's very wrong here." I said, feeling something in my gut. "Move the SeaQuest! We're being fired at!"

"I don't think you've got that authority young lady." The commanding officer said, suddenly we were pitched around the bridge.

"All hands! Brace for second impact! All hands brace for impact!" O'Neill shouted as the ship rocked again.

"Damage report!"

"All hands! Red Alert! All hands to stations! Dive!" O'Neil shouted as we began to maneuver out of the path of the missiles.

"We've got flooding on lower decks. Oh no." Henderson said.

"What?" The commanding officer barked.

"We're taking on water!"

"There's water coming in on the bridge. You've got to abandon ship!" I said, Lucas was standing by the navigation system, shaking his head in horror.

"I can't do that!" The commanding officer shouted above the klaxon.

"You HAVE to! There are students aboard this ship. You have to do something!" I cried out, as another violent shudder sent me sprawling to the floor. "They are innocent bystanders! IF you let this ship get destroyed with them on board, your screwed!"

"Communications is out to the Science decks and the living quarters. We can't sound the abandon ship below level 43. Deinera, we have to get everyone out of this ship. You and Lucas, can you do that?" O'Neil said.

"You can't override my orders! We won't abandon this ship!"

"We just did. We're relieving you of command." Ortiz said. "Deinera, go warn the students. Lucas, you get the other scientists. O'Neil and I will handle the officers."

"We have to try to save the SeaQuest." O'Neil said.

"Tony and I can go out and do what we can for repairs. We're not too far down that the pressure will kill us. The siphons should allow the SeaQuest to come back up, but we're taking on too much water to keep it safe for those of you without our capabilities." I said.

"Alright. Do what you can, and above all, stay safe." Ortiz said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Ben! Start getting the launches ready!" O'Neil said.

"Yes sir! Deinera, you need to come with me!" He shouted.

"No Ben. I'm staying here. I'll do more good for the SeaQuest here." I said.

"I can't let you do that Deinera. You'll get killed!"

"Please, father. Let me do this. I know I can. I can't just let the dreams of hundreds of people sink to the bottom of the ocean. Besides, it's what I can do for the world." I said. "Someone else wants this ship, and he's not going to be kind if he gets it."

"Alright. But the moment it starts getting dangerous, join us on dry land. It's not worth dying over." Ben said. "After this is through, you won't forget your old man, will you? The SeaQuest isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Yes, and I'll even come to the opening of your new restaurant daddy." I said, kissing his cheek. He hugged me tightly for a moment, then let go, tears in his eyes.

"Go work your magic, baby girl." His whisper followed me through the halls as I raced past flooding water to get to the showers, where a majority of the girls were right now.

They didn't seem to notice that there was flooding into the showers. There was so much noise going on, you could hardly hear the red alert klaxon. I dashed in, ignoring the cold brackish water sloshing around my ankles. I shoved the doors open, throwing towels and clothes at the girls, who were screaming in surprise now at the cold coming in from the hall. I blanketed out the noise to a level where I could audibly shout. They were pissed, but I froze their words in their throats.

"We're abandoning ship! We're taking on water! Get out of here!" I shouted.

"What in the hell are you talking about? We're in a shower, of course there's going to be water on the floor." One of the girls screamed.

I usedwhat little telekinesis I had leftto splash the cold sea water on her. She shrieked.

"Brace for impact! All hands to launches, Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" O'Neil shouted through the PA. Lucas had managed to get it working, for how long was up for debate.

"We're taking on water! Get out of here now!" I shouted.

The girls shrieked again. I was hit with a wave of water as they grabbed towels and began running from the shower room. But what they had shrieked at was not the water, but a figure that seemed to come out of nowhere. Before I could register anything more however, the wave of water rushed over us, and we were slammed into the door, landing outside the shower room. I lay there for a moment, stunned. Then I sat up quickly, rolling over the body next to me. The hull must have had a hole in this area, the water was coming in fast.

"Michael!" I cried out, lifting his head up to look at my friend. He looked at me, and paused a moment, as if thinking.

"Nera!" He said, laughing, a British accent colored by a German undertone, it warmed my heart to hear something that familiar. "Wasn't looking to find you in the shower room with that lot." I dropped his head onto the floor, a loud thunk resounding with his yelp of pain.

"What the HELL were you doing in the shower room?" I shouted at him. I shot up, shouting into my communicator. "Forget that. O'NIEL! SEAL THE SHOWERS! The water in there is going to flood the rest of this deck and I haven't evacuated it yet!"

"Looks like you've settled well." Michael said, sitting up in the water.

"Come on. We're being fired at." I said, yanking on his hand.

"I think we've all realized this by now." He said.

"What you haven't realized is this is the most powerful ship in the ocean Michael. Anyone firing on us would have to be stupid, or have something else in mind other than to sink the ship, not to mention knows what the hell is going on." I said.

"You seem to know a bit." He said.

"Gods Michael, I've missed you so much." I said, crying as I hugged him tightly.

"I've missed you too Nera." He said, wrapping his arms around me protectively. "Come on, best be on our way. Can't be around when the place floods."

"Come on, we've got to get the rest of the people out of here!" I shouted, racing down the hall. He went the other direction; we kept in contact through our minds.

'I've notice your implant isn't on anymore. What egg head did that for you?' he whispered in my mind.

'His name is Lucas, and he's not an egg head.'

'Ahh, a good mate he is. Hope I get to meet him.'

'Keep an eye on what you're doing Michael. We can't go back in time to fix the screw ups here.' I replied.

It took us ten minutes to make sure all of the personnel were evacuated from the level we were on. By then the water had risen to our knees. I met Michael in one of the halls, hugging myself tightly. He put his arms around me, trying to keep me warm as the equipment around us sparked and exploded, things were not going well for this part of the SeaQuest. I had been trying to reach O'Neil for a few minutes already, but the communications must have gone out again. I felt like crying. We couldn't get out of there, not with the violent attacks leaving most of the deck dangerous. They had most likely already sealed it off. I sent out a message to Lucas, letting him know I was alright. The ship was already doing some of it's own repairs to the volatile conduits. The launches that had already left had been attacked, but had made it to dry land with no casualties.

"Michael, we have to get to the dolphin tunnels. It's the only way back to the bridge." I said.

"Alright. I'm up for a kip in the water. I've already frozen me knickers off I think." He said.

"Oh quiet you." I said, grabbing his hand.

About that point, a wall of water came roaring at us. He threw his arms around me, and we pressed ourselves against the ground, praying that we would come out of this alright. When it was finished, we had water up to our chests. I looked at him, and he grinned. We dove under the water, and I began to lead him to the closest entrance to the dolphin tunnels, which was underwater, so it wouldn't make a difference to open it in the hall. We swam in, and began to make our way towards the bridge, the water was rising very fast.

The SeaQuest was in some real trouble.

* * *

sorry if it was a bit crappy, had a bottle of Kahlua White Russian. It tastes a lot better cold... so if your drinking any.. chill it first. 


	10. Deadly waters

Sorry this has taken so long. I've finally actually finished this story. Right now I'm actually watching SeaQuest while I wait for my hair to dry enough to braid some... and I can't get the break thing to work... so I'll do this without lines, and then fix it when I figure out the problem.

_SeaQuest Bridge, 3rd POV_

"Well, that's good right? Means she's still doing alright." Ortiz said.

"Yeah, but she's not alone."

"You mean she's got Darwin with her?" Ortiz asked.

"No, there's another human with her. It's nobody we know. But it looks like he's got gills too." O'Neil said.

"It's him. It's one of her friends from the past." Lucas said.

"Lucas! Get to a launch!" Ortiz said.

"I can't. I'm not letting go of this one. I won't let you guys do this alone." Lucas said.

"Bridger is going to be really pissed." Ortiz said.

_1st POV_

"Forget that Ortiz. Bridger is beyond anything but frozen horror." I said.

"Deinera!" Lucas said, rushing over, helping me out of the pool.

I brushed my hair out of my face, splashing water everywhere. Michael was a moment behind me. Lucas stared at him, and I sighed, leaning over to help Michael out of the pool. I could feel their eyes on me as they caught sight of his implant, so identical to my own inoperable one, and then the gills that were closing up behind his ears.

"This is Michael. He is one of the ones I came with. And this means that we are in more danger than any of us could have realized." I said softly.

"They have him, our friend. They've come for us. And for revenge." Michael said, his British accent startling the men around him.

"Revenge?" Ortiz asked.

"On your Captain, on all of you. Because you came back." He replied.

"Why?" O'Neil asked.

"Because he was promised the ship. He was given Ortwin and I to cart back to the states, back to that hell we had been in. Ortwin helped me escape, so I could find help." Michael said.

"Lucas, are you able to get the comm. unit working again?" O'Neil asked.

"No. I can't." He replied.

"Lucas! You've got to get out of here mate. He'll come for you, just to get at your captain. You stay, and you're a dead man." Michael said.

"I'm not leaving Deinera alone to repair the ship." Lucas said.

"She's not alone mate. She's got me." Michael said, putting his arm around me.

"I'm the only one that can get the rest of the ship working." Lucas said.

"Alright mate. If you're going to be like that, you're going to have an honor guard." Michael said.

"You've got gills like Deinera does, right?" Ortiz asked.

"Yeah, sure thing. Why?" Michael asked.

"Because, we need as many hands out there repairing the damage the skin can't. I don't know what that man did, but our ship is dying fast, too fast for the skin to repair itself. We need you three out there to help it out." Ortiz said.

"Three?"

"Tony has gills as well." I whispered.

"Oh, I thought he meant me best mate. Hudson still has him. And he's gonna do anything he can to get to us as well Nera." Michael said.

"Then we're going to have to keep him off your backs." O'Neil said.

"Pressurize the Moon Pool, O'Neil. You two get down there as soon as you can. Tony is getting ready, and has Darwin. We're going to continue firing on the sub that attacked us." Ortiz said.

I nodded, and Lucas handed me a bag that I strapped on, and Michael did the same with the next one Lucas handed us. We dove into the pool, and swam down to the Moon Pool, joining Darwin and Tony. Tony didn't say anything about Michael, just shrugged, and we swam down as they pressurized the pool. Out in the water we had to be careful of where the missiles were being fired. The headsets we wore didn't work, but we still wore them in case Lucas managed to get the systems working again. The last launch left the ship, and I only prayed that if Lucas, Ortiz, and O'Neil had stayed aboard, that they would be alright. Michael and I helped Tony when a missile would fire. And with our combined efforts, managed to disarm the weapon before it struck the SeaQuest.

Michael didn't have time to warn me, and I couldn't have felt it coming if I had known. We were repairing the worse damage from the deck that I had found Michael on. I felt a searing pain in my shoulder, I screamed, not very audible under water, but Michael felt the pain and terror that I felt. He launched himself from the ship towards me, but someone had grabbed me around the waist and was swimming off towards the sub that had been firing on us. I struggled against the arms that held me, ignoring the pain that shot through my shoulder and down my back. The water was turning murky with blood. Michael was brought up short, grabbed by another diver. He turned around and punched the diver, with more than his physical arm. He shot after me, reaching for my hand. My hair seemed to take on the color of blood as it floated around me, set loose by the struggle. I grasped Michael's hand, and felt his terror at the contact. Then he was hit by something, and the last thing I saw before I blacked out was another diver grabbing him, and swimming off.

'LUCAS!' I screamed in my mind.

_Rebel Sub, 3rd POV_

Hudson watched as the two young people were dumped in front of him. His divers had run into a small problem, being stupid enough to not realize sharks could smell blood from miles away. The girl was unconscious, though the blood loss was not fatal it was enough to keep her out of it for a little while. Michael woke up moments after they had been deposited on the floor, coughing up water from his lungs. He moved quickly, in front of the girl, protecting her. He was driven to his knees by the implant. Gasping, he turned to her, picking her up gently, shaking in anger at the blood pooling around his knees. He put his hand on her cheek, not making a sound, but a look of relief crossed into his eyes, and then he closed them. He seemed to be pleading with her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she started making choking noises. 

"S'all right Nera. S'all right." He whispered, turning her over.

She began coughing water out of her lungs as well. They were feeble attempts, but she was gasping for air a moment later, pain laced in her breath, blood coming from her mouth. Hudson stood in front of them. He yanked Michael up by his arm, all Michael could do was glare at him, and the fear and anger from Michael seemed to bring the girl more to her senses. She moved to her knees, holding her right arm. The small knife still stuck out of her shoulder, and Hudson only smiled. He reached over and yanked it out, causing her to cry out in pain, and fall forward onto her hands. Michael struggled against him, swearing in German. Hudson gripped the boy's arm tighter, but that did nothing to curb the boy's anger. Using a controller, he activated the implant again, driving Michael to his knees, crying out silently against the pain.

"SeaQuest is hailing us captain." One of the men said.

Hudson stood there for a moment longer, watching in fascination as the young man writhed on the floor in pain, excruciating pain. Then he turned, putting the controller down, and ignored them once more.

"Well, let us answer, shall we?" Hudson said.


	11. Dying wish

_Aboard the rebel sub_

I looked over at Michael, he was gasping. I could feel the anger, the humiliation at showing such weakness when he felt he should have been protecting me. I cried for the both of us, my pain, and his pain. The sadness we both felt, that we had betrayed the other. I crawled over to him, on my hands and knees. I took his hand in mine, squeezing it. Some of the pain that creased his face left as I spoke softly to his mind, a cooling hand to the heat of pain. I looked up; Hudson had O'Neil and Ortiz on the viewer. Lucas seemed to be gone, or busy fixing something else. Hudson smiled, but it was like a fox in the hen house, too slimy for anyone's good.

"I suggest you cease fire, or I will be forced to do something drastic SeaQuest." Hudson said.

"I'm afraid you've got little say in this. Stand down, or you will be destroyed." Ortiz said, crossing his arms.

"I don't think so." Hudson said, moving just enough so they could see us. "I'm afraid you're the one that's going to have to stand down SeaQuest. You see, I have all three of these supposedly wonderfully gifted young people. Together, the things they could do would cripple a man in his prime."

"You obviously don't know them well enough." Ortiz said.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I know them. What matters is that I control the technology that has been implanted into their spines." Hudson said. "Prepare to be boarded SeaQuest."

"No. Ortiz don't!" I gasped out.

I cried out as Hudson punched me in the face. Michael started swearing in another language once more. I knew exactly what he was saying, and knew that the curses weren't something to take lightly. I knew Michael would go through with them. O'Neil began speaking quickly in German as Hudson grabbed my shirt. Hudson threw me down in front of him, Michael came at him as I coughed up more blood. I heard more shouting, and was dragged off. I thought I heard Lucas's name and shouting from SeaQuest. I couldn't see straight, and I could still hear Michael swearing in German. A door opened, and I heard a scuffling movement.

"Michael sounds a bit upset."

"Ortwin. Dear god." I whispered as the officer deposited me with my friend.

"It's been a while… Deinera." He said, hugging me tightly.

I whimpered, the pressure on the knife wound flaring into a starburst of pain. He set me down on the cot he had been laying on, exposing my shoulder. He had more experience with injuries than Michael or I, his parents had been doctors. He helped me remain sitting, looking into my eyes, lightly touching my cheek, which was already bruising.

"What have they done?" He muttered as I coughed up more blood. "They've punctured your lung. This will take a bit of work."

"Michael is in trouble Ortwin." I whispered as he concentrated.

"I know. We're not going to do him any good with you like this." Ortwin said, then laughed and added "When is he not in trouble?"

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"The only way to escape is back to the past. If we jump ahead any further, we'd probably kill ourselves." Ortwin said.

"I'm not going back there. I'd rather die." I said.

"I thought you'd say that." He laughed.

"Whatever works huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. Whatever works." He grinned, taking my hand.

I blacked out for a little while after that. When I slowly opened my eyes to find Ortwin and Michael watching me, worried looks on their faces. As I sat up, I felt the both of them engulf me in a giant hug. Our lives before may have been hell in those labs, but we had made each others lives bearable, being there for one another, if only in spirit. Often they would separate us physically, but that just helped strengthen our mind powers. We would exercise those powers to remain in contact with one another.

"What has happened?" I asked, after a moment.

" Hudson, he had a man on SeaQuest. That stupid git." Michael growled.

"They brought Lucas over. The SeaQuest is on the bottom of the ocean." Ortwin said. I swore.

"Hey mate, you do that better'n I do!" Michael said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close.

"We have to fix this. It's my fault Lucas is here." I said.

"No it's not your fault, it's mine. I brought us here. Everything went pear-shaped after I jumped us here. This timeline wouldn't have happened if I hadn't kipped us off here. Hudson would have the SeaQuest. It'd have been gone a full ten years." Michael said.

"No, that timeline would have ended badly." I said.

"Yeah, but Lucas wouldn't be in the danger he's in now. Would you wish that on him? Hudson is going to kill him. And make sure that Bridger blames himself for it." Michael said.

"Going to? He hasn't by now?" I asked.

"No. The prat brought him over just now." Michael said.

"We've still got time." I whispered.

Ortwin handed me the jacket I had worn earlier, still stained with blood, a nice tear where the knife had been. I touched where the wound was lightly. It was healing well. Michael and Ortwin were able to heal a wound in a manner of speaking. Acceleration of time on the spot, and regeneration. I would have bled to death surely if they hadn't been there to help. I took their hands, and looked at Michael. He nodded, and we disappeared. Moments later we were in an empty corridor, and they were both driven to their knees. The implants had been activated. Except for mine. Mine had been tinkered with by Lucas, and was inoperable now. I kneeled down beside them, taking their hands, and pushing my mind into theirs, trying to help abate the pain. They grabbed onto me like a life line. We barely made it to where we could feel Lucas's terror. He was being confronted by Hudson as we attempted to find him. The moment Hudson saw us, he grinned maliciously. He brought out a remote, and suddenly Michael and Ortwin dropped my hands and stepped away.

"Ah, it is good to have control." Hudson said.

"It's the only control you have; you lost what control you had over your mind months ago." I said. He growled.

"How the hell are you doing that?" He shouted, bearing down on me.

"I deactivated her implant." Lucas said, from his crouched position near the launch bay. His lip was bleeding and there was a cut above his eye.

I could hear Michael and Ortwin screaming in their own minds, wanting to protect me, but I had a few surprises up my sleeves from the four years I had been raised by Ben. Hudson turned to backhand Lucas, and I spun around and aimed a kick at him. I missed the hand I was aiming for, but did manage to get his attention. He threw a punch, I put my hands up, twisting, effectively stopping him. He grunted and grabbed my arm, throwing me to the ground. Before I could stop him, he had pressed another button on the control.

"You, kill her. You, kill the boy." Hudson shouted.

I felt arms grasp me from behind; Michael dragged me to my feet. He did so slowly, as if he were fighting against mud. I knew that Michael had the strength to kill me, but not the heart. Even if he was under the control of Hudson, he wouldn't be able to do it. He'd fight against the order until it killed him, and I didn't want that. Ortwin was speaking softly in my mind, a murmer I couldn't hear. I felt tears pour down my cheeks, knowing that they were going to stop their own lives. It was almost impossible for a human to stop their own heart or lungs, but with the abilities we possessed, it was more than possible. I struggled against Michael, Hudson laughing the entire time, thinking he had won.

"MICHAEL NO!" I screamed as I felt him start to fade away.

I caught him as he fell, Lucas caught Ortwin. I hugged Michael close to me, listening for his heartbeat, using my abilities to keep his heart pumping, keeping him alive. I could barely do the same for Ortwin. I turned to Hudson, feeling the anger and frustration from the oppression the pain and the hurt of my past, and the loss of my friends becoming imminent. My emotions overrode my rationality. Hudson sank to his knees clutching his head as sparks flew across the room. I walked towards Hudson, and in so doing, walked through his mind, driving him to the brink and beyond. He was beyond help, at least for the moment, he was a strong man. Not like I would have given any, whatever I was now, anger rolled off it in waves, literally. Then I woke up, everything.


	12. The Pain of Loss

I know I promised this for last night (since it is 2am here) but I ended up going to a friends dorm and doing tarot readings and drinking tea... sorry... but I am supposed to be more social you know? I'm sorry if any of this is confusing. It didn't make sense to me either, but I can't make it make sense... if that makes sense...haha...:passes out:

_3rd POV_

Deinera stood in the middle of the room, radiating fury, strength, anger. The waves of energy pulsed through the room. It was strange, seeing the effect the energy she held had on the room. Lucas knew that psychic energy and the other ESP type of powers these three had, were just a different form of the electricity that ran through the human body. It was abundant in these three because of the connection they shared, and the implants. If it wasn't for the implants, there powers probably wouldn't be able to do what they were doing now, frying most of the computers. Lucas knew that when he had messed with the implant Deinera had, the powers she had possessed decreased in strength, at least some of them.

The two young men, Ortwin and Michael stirred, feeling the raw emotion as if it were a slap in the face. They couldn't feel her mind anymore, it was as if she no longer existed, the person in the middle of the sub was only a shell of the friend they once knew. Lucas was checking the people around them, making sure those that were able, got into one of the launches.

"DEINERA! STOP!" Michael shouted.

He and Ortwin dove for their friend, as the waves intensified, and there was a silent explosion.

_On the SeaQuest_

Ortiz stared at the screen in front of him. He couldn't believe what had just happened. The submarine in front of him had just imploded. He and O'Neil were the only two people left on the SeaQuest, Tony was outside trying to stop the ship from flooding. Deinera had been attacked, Michael and the girl had been dragged back to the other sub. Hudson, the man promised the SeaQuest, had offered an ultimatum, swearing that he would use the three gifted young people, having already captured Deinera's third companion, to wreak havoc on the world. And pointed out he had the technology to control them, and make them do what he wished. Except he didn't know Deinera's implant was now offline.

O'Neil made a sound of surprise and disgust. Ortiz turned around to see a gaggle of people by the clam doors. Ortiz recognized Michael from before, he was holding something wet in his arms, and Lucas was supporting another male about the same age. O'Neil dashed forward, trying to sort things out. He made an exclamation of surprise and horror upon seeing Deinera's still form.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked Michael.

"I don't bloody know! She got pissed, and started doin stuff. I've been trying to keep her heart going, but I think the bloody git over there managed to properly fry me brains or summat. She's not breathing." Michael said.

O'Neil took a moment to go through what Michael had just said, not used to the British slang. The young man wouldn't let go of Deinera however, so O'Neil grabbed the 'git' by the collar and hauled him over to a chair. He handcuffed the semi conscious man to a rail, and turned to Ortiz. The other officer still didn't seem to be getting the idea that the ship suddenly had more people. Then Ortiz shook his head, and began to take stock in what was going on.

"Michael, what happened? Can you tell me in a bit more detail?" He asked.

" Hudson was trying to get us to kill them." Michael said softly. He looked at Ortiz, his eyes full of pain. "We couldn't, wouldn't do it. We are able to stop our own hearts, but Nera; she wouldn't have any of that. But even trying to stop him, she wouldn't kill him. She messed with his mind, but it isn't permanent. He'll be back to what he was before. But I think it's killed her."

"No, it can't. She can't be." Lucas said.

"I'm afraid it has mate. She's gone and done what she said she'd do." Michael said.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"She said she'd rather die than go back there. We all would. And she was the first." Ortwin said.

"No. We can't let her do this mate. We've got to bring her back. Otherwise, it's not worth it." Michael said.

Lucas watched as Michael hugged Deinera close to him. He felt something deep down, probably jealousy. She was limp in his arms, her head dangling, and her damp hair a cascade of colors against the stark colors of the bridge. He watched Ortwin take her hands in his own. He brushed her hair from her face, and Lucas saw the bruising, the split lip, and the pale tint of her skin. It was like alabaster. He didn't know why her skin took on such a tone; it was as if she had suffered serious blood loss. Lucas knew that Deinera had probably spent enough energy to burst her heart.

"Her heart is still beating, but she will die in moments if we don't take action." Ortwin said softly.

"Then do it." Lucas said, putting his hand on Ortwin's shoulder.

"You don't get it. We have to give what she has lost. I don't think we've got the energy." Ortwin said.

"Then take mine." Lucas said.

"You're just a kid." Michael said, kneeling down.

"Face it, so are you." Lucas said. Michael looked up at him, his eyes showing how old he truly was.

"I'm much older than you, not physically, but mentally, and in spirit. I've seen things you wouldn't dream of in your nightmares. To me, you're nothing more than a child." Michael said.

"I don't care. I made a promise to Ben, her father. She has something important to do, and we can't just let her die." Lucas said, kneeling next to them.

Michael looked at Ortwin, who looked at Lucas. He saw the determination in the young man's eyes. He looked back at Michael, feeling the seconds slide past, and the end of his friend's life approaching. He closed his eyes, giving a small nod. He opened his eyes, seeing Ortiz and O'Neil join them.

"We're not going to let you go through this alone. We are going to help you." O'Neil said.

"As long as you are willing, you will be able to help." Ortwin said. "We have to redirect her mind, lead her from the deepest and darkest parts. People with our abilities use much more of our minds, and that gives us much more area to get lost in. The electrical signals those of us with ESP have, is subtle, but dangerous."

Michael and Ortwin each took one of Deinera's hands. Ortiz and O'Neil kneeled next to them, taking Lucas's hands, and making a circle with the others, surrounding Deinera. Michael could feel the power coming from the other three, a little frustrated that he and Ortwin hadn't learned to channel as well as Deinera had, and slightly surprised by the potential each one of these people had, especially O'Neil. They would expend more energy, but hopefully it would work. Michael concentrated on keeping her heart working, and Ortwin concentrated on healing her mind, and the damage done by lack of oxygen to her brain.

She suddenly took a deep breath, and the labored breathing smoothed out eventually. They let go of her hands, both young men almost collapsed. O'Neil and Ortiz made sure they were able to walk, helping them to a chair while Lucas sat near Deinera, holding her hand tightly in his. He looked up at them, confusion in his eyes.

"Why isn't she waking up?" He asked, accusingly.

"There was much damage to her mind; her brain had suffered from lack of oxygen. Her soul was healing as well. A majority of the energy we used was used to keep her heart beating, and then slowly bring oxygen back into her brain, and then repair it. She would otherwise be brain dead. She is now in a coma. I cannot do anymore. We must wait." Ortwin said, breathing hard. "She needs to heal on her own for now."

"We have to get off the floor of the ocean. The hull can only withstand so much pressure for so long. Tony has done as much as he can to fix the skin. But it's not going to be able to regenerate fast enough to stop the flooding." Ortiz said.

"I can help." Ortwin said.

"What do you mean?" O'Neil asked.

Ortwin looked at Michael, confused. Michael grinned and said something in German. Ortwin nodded and began to explain to O'Neil what he meant in his mother tongue. Ortiz looked at them, more confused than O'Neil had been, but willing to wait on the outcome. It seemed that both boys were more comfortable speaking something other than English, which didn't surprise Ortiz, seeing as they had strange accents. O'Neil sat back in his communications chair after a moment, with a grin, and turned to Ortiz and Lucas.

"Ortwin says his specialty is healing, actually regeneration. He can speed the regeneration of the hull up, and Michael can help move it along even faster." O'Neil said.

"Alright!" Ortiz said.

"One downfall is that they need a little bit of a rest, and something to eat. They've not been treated very will by Hudson, and Michael wasn't able to get much to eat in the time he was a stowaway here." O'Neil said.

"I've got some power bars up here for my shift, but they need it more than I do. You guys just sit there, and I'll be back with those. Lucas, can you work on the communications?" Ortiz said. "In the meantime, I'm going to try to raise her to a depth that you all can tolerate. Hurry, otherwise it won't last long."

"I can try. It's not really something I can do alone. It's a job for half a dozen people, at least." Lucas said.

"But we don't have a half dozen people." O'Neil said. "Deinera needs the doctor, no matter how much her friends can do for her. We can't keep counting on them to take care of her."

"I'll do what I can. Just keep an eye on her." Lucas said, eyeing Hudson, who was slowly shaking his head.

O'Neil nodded, picking her up gently, and moving to the other side of the bridge, away from the maniac. He took off his jacket to make a pillow for her head as Ortwin and Michael took a quick nap nearby. Within twenty minutes they were awake again, and eating the power bars, speaking quietly in German between bites. Ortiz was sitting by Deinera, watching her sleep. In her unconscious state she looked so innocent and child like. He had found the first aid kit and cleaned up the dried blood on her face, and put a blanket over her. He knew that without Wendy, Deinera would waste away within days. She was already rather skinny.

"I've got a relay outside; I can put you in contact with the remaining Whisker, and Tony. The other two aren't wearing headsets." O'Neil said.

"Thanks Lucas. Ok, Ortwin, Michael. We're counting on you to get our hull repaired enough to get us floating again. Don't stay out too long, and don't over do it. I don't think Deinera would be happy to wake up to find you two lost your lives just trying to keep us afloat." Ortiz said.

"Don't worry. But if something does happen, let her know that we love her. And thank her father for us. He's helped her become something wonderful, something that she couldn't have even tried to achieve if we had stayed in the past." Ortwin said.

Lucas stopped and looked at him, seeing in his eyes that he meant what he said, and feeling as if he couldn't even begin to be a match to either of her companions. His head hung lower, and he continued his work, fixing. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Michael.

"You've done a wonderful job helping her mate. Don't hurt her, or you'll have to put up with us. And Ortwin can be a right big prat when it comes to our Nera." Michael said with a grin. He turned and dove into the pool, followed shortly by Ortwin.

_half an hour later_

"Siphons are clearing C deck. It's keeping! We're emptying ballasts and rising!" O'Neil said. There was a cheer from the group of men from Hudson's sub.

"We've got a two man sub requesting permission to dock. It's the Captain and Lieutenant Ford!" Ortiz said. "Bring those guys in, in about five minutes. After that the hull can take care of itself."

"Where's my daughter?" A shout was heard as the Captain opened a comm. link.

"Ben?" O'Neil asked.

"We met him on shore, and couldn't leave without him. I don't blame him. Where the hell is Lucas, and why the hell didn't he go up world?" The Captain shouted.

"That was my fault Captain. I wouldn't let this one go." Lucas said. "We were trying to save her."

"He's been a great help Captain, he's gotten the comm. unit fixed, and helped out Deinera's friends." Ortiz said.

"I don't care how big a help he was. When something like this happens all non-military personnel are supposed to evacuate the vessel." The Captain said. "But I'm glad you've gotten her off the ocean floor. Good job everybody. We'll be docking in a moment."

"Siphons will have the relevant decks cleared by that time." Ortiz said.

As the clam doors opened to admit the Captain and Ford, no one was paying attention to Hudson. He was picking the locks to the handcuffs, and as the Captain was welcomed onto the bridge with salutes, Hudson grabbed his knife and took Lucas by the arm, causing the teenager to give a surprised cry that ended in a scream of pain. Michael and Ortwin leaped out of the pool, followed by Tony.

"Lucas!" Michael shouted.

"Deinera!" Ben shouted, pushing forward trying to find her face among those around him. He saw her, lying on the ground, practically dead.

"Back off Bridger. I go free, and the boy lives." Hudson said.

"Lucas." Bridger said softly, holding his hands out so Hudson could see he was unarmed.

"You bastard! How the hell could you do that to my daughter!" Ben shouted, and in a move that surprised them all, grabbed Hudson's arm, twisting the knife from Lucas's throat, and landing a solid punch to the man's face.

Michael and Ortwin got to Ben a second later, staring at the unconscious man before them. They were amazed, and a little frightened by the anger coming off the man in-between them. Suddenly the man collapsed to his knees, the anger folding in on him, being replaced by fear, worry, and loss. Bridger had Lucas in his arms so tightly that it seemed he would never let go of him. Michael and Ortwin helped Ben to his feet and guided him over to Deinera.

"You must be Ben, her father." Ortwin said.

"You're the bloke that's taken care of her." Michael said, punching Ben's arm. "That was a right hit there mate, dropped him like a load of bricks."

A/N

I'm sorry about the bad slang...and the wacky chapter... wow...


	13. Healing the soul and mind

"Yeah. I'm not her real father. I only found her, taught her how to live in this time." Ben said his voice flat.

"You are her real father. You raised her, loved her, and taught her to love. You showed her how to be a real person. If that isn't what a true father is, then I don't know what is. Your heart is true, even though you hide it for fear of loss." Ortwin said.

"But I have lost. I'll never get the chance to see her become what she's meant to." Ben said, his shoulders falling.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"She's dead." Ben said, kneeling to cradle her in his arms.

"She's alive, but barely." Michael said softly.

"You're going to take her back then aren't you?" Ben asked. He knew she was old enough to leave him, he knew the day would come, but he had spent so little time raising her, and still his heart had grown to that of a father's.

"No. We'd rather die than take her back, go back there." Ortwin said.

"And you're not going to take her away to live with you?" Ben asked.

"No mate. She's going to stay with the people she loves." Michael said.

"She loves you guys you know." Ben said.

"Yeah, we know." Michael said.

"You don't have a home either." Ben said.

"Not really. We take a kip where we can find it, run when we have to." Michael said.

"Stay with her, with us. It's what she would want." Ben said.

"I dunno mate." Michael started.

"No. We mean it. Please, stay with her. She needs you." Lucas said.

"We'll stay as long as we are welcome." Ortwin said.

"Good. Now let's get our crew back, shall we? It's hard enough to run this boat with all of them; I doubt we'll manage with what we've got." Bridger said.

"Yes sir!" Ortiz said, as Ben picked up Deinera.

Lucas could see the blank look in Ben's eyes. He seemed lost, with Deinera seemingly dead. He laid his cheek on her forehead, the shimmering colors of Deinera's hair making his already pale skin seem bone white. Lucas was frightened by the color Deinera was. No human should ever be that color. He was sure it was a combination of blood loss, from the knife that a diver had nailed her with, and probably the expended energy. From what he had understood from Michael and Ortwin, it was like rising in the water too fast, like drowning. Lucas watched Ben as he walked out the clam doors, stopped by Bridger before he could follow Ben and the flash of color heading towards the infirmary.

"No Lucas. Ben needs some time with her alone. He almost lost her today, and he still thinks he might. He needs time with her, alone, so he can find himself again." Bridger said; his hand on Lucas's shoulder.

Michael and Ortwin came up behind Lucas and Bridger, watching their only connection to this time, get carried away from them. Lucas could feel their confusion. In a way, he understood how they must have felt. The one person that mattered to them the most, someone they had lost over four years ago, someone they had only just found, was disappearing again. They had opened their hearts to the possibility that they would be together again, and now, who knew what would happen. They had been given something of a home, if they would take Bridger or Ben up on that offer was an entirely different subject. He could almost taste the fear they felt at loosing her again. Lucas couldn't handle it, the love they felt for her.

"Come on Michael, we should help." Ortwin said softly.

"I can feel her mate. She's so lost, and she's hurting so bad. She's back there." Michael said; his voice full of sadness.

"I know, I can feel it. But we can't help her now. No matter how badly I want to heal her, stop her pain, I can't. It's up to him now." Ortwin said, anguished.

"No, daddy, mummy, don't do this to me! Please!"

"It's for your own good, and for everyone else's good. Now shut up."

"I didn't mean it mummy, please!"

"Just take her, now. I can't handle it anymore. Get rid of her."

"Please! Don't make me go there! I can't stand it, daddy please!"

"Your mother is right. You're doing more damage than good. They caught you; you might as well join them. Maybe they'll stop you from bein a freak."

"Daddy no!"

Ben jumped up, hearing the scream. It had come from Deinera. He was startled, feeling like he had betrayed her. He had been dreaming, he was with a woman, and she was trying to detach a small ten year old girl from around her waist. They were trying to send her off to some sort of institute. It wasn't the one he knew she'd end up at, but it was similar. It paid her parents for temporary use of their daughter. That scream came from the little girl as he handed her over to some man he didn't know.

Ben took Deinera's hand, she hadn't moved since he had placed her on the bed. Wendy was due back at any time. Deinera seemed to be fighting for something, her life, her memories, her heart, maybe all three. He didn't know, and he didn't know how to help her, that's what terrified him the most, and it tore him apart. Ben was getting a glimpse into the past she once had. He felt like he had been her father back then. The guilt radiated from him, he knew that at a time he had joked about selling his daughter off, if he ever had one, so that he'd have an extra couple dollars. He had done that to Deinera. He knew it hadn't been him really, just some other man, who was probably still alive today, knowing the people from her time. She had mentioned that she hadn't traveled that far into the future, the people her age from back then were probably adults now, older than Ben himself maybe.

"Come on, baby girl. Come back to us." He whispered. "I'm so sorry for what happened to you. Come on, find your way."

She was working away at the computer. She was talking to a friend of hers, from another country on the phone, and another on the computer, using webcam and voice. They were laughing at something only they would understand. She frowned, seemingly hearing something that wasn't the voice of her friend. She shouted something at him suddenly, telling him to run, and touching the screen in front of her. A message to her friend on the internet read for him to do the same. Ben could see in the background behind Michael men thundering into the room while the young man was yelling at the screen in front of him. The cell phone fell to the ground, Ortwin's voice on the other end fused with pain and worry. The trap that had caught them. Set by her mother.

"Daddy!"

He could hear her betrayed shout as the men caught her arms painfully behind her back. She couldn't do anything to them. She couldn't control herself enough to not kill them, or worse. And in the time they had created the small labs, bringing in people similar to these three magnificently gifted young people, they had developed something that would hold them. She was older than she was now, even more beautiful in a natural sense, with her dark brown hair, colored only by dye, and her green eyes the shade of faded grass. Her betrayal of her friends. They would join her in that hell. He watched as Michael put up a fight, trying to pull his famous stunt that brought them to Ben's present, to find Deinera and make sure she was alright.

"Ben! What's going on here?" Wendy asked.

"What?" Ben asked, snapping out of his dream.

"Well, Deinera was in perfect health for one, for two, both of you have racing hearts. And I saw something in your mind." Wendy said.

"Wendy! Prepare two new beds." Bridger said over the comm. unit.

"Oh no, Michael and Ortwin." Ben whispered.

"You're going to have a lot of explaining to do." Wendy said.

"I don't understand what the hell is going on. They were in the middle of a conversation, seemingly healthy enough, and then they drop like rocks." Bridger said.

"It's Deinera. Something is happening to her, and the three of them, they're bonded somehow. There's something to do with their past, and she's facing it alone. Or she was. I saw in her dreams. They passed out about the same time they were taken down in her dreams." Ben said.

"She… has survived the future, and must find her way through her past. She must face her fears." Michael said softly.

"Michael! What's going on?" Ben asked.

"She is lost, and in pain." Michael said, his eyes rolling back.

"What do you mean?" Bridger asked. Michael smiled.

"Our past is trying to claim us, or kill us. We must fight it. Please, let me find her. And don't leave her. She can't loose you again." Michael said, and closed his eyes.

"She never lost me." Ben whispered.

"Stay here Ben. I've got a boat to run. Lucas, keep an eye on them. If Wendy or Ben needs something, you get it, without question." Bridger said.

"Yes Captain." Lucas said, terrified someone would die.

Ben wasn't sure what to do, except stay by her side and hold her hand. With Wendy's help, he was able to see Deinera in her own mind. She was on an island somewhere. He kept talking to her. She spent weeks in the infirmary, Michael and Ortwin were out of there within a few days. They visited when they could, along with Lucas. Michael could never find her when it came down to it, though he tried when he could. Ben was starting to think that she would never wake up. The bruises and cuts healed, and she looked like she was sleeping.

"Come on Sleeping Beauty." He whispered, squeezing her hand.

He didn't notice the boys come in, and was surprised to see Michael by his side. The boy took Deinera's free hand and closed his eyes, an almost daily ritual for him. He seemed exhausted, as if he was doing more than just sitting there. Ben knew nothing would happen, just the same as the past few days. His heart seemed to have turned to stone. He knew that Deinera would have preferred to die here, among people she loved, then at that institution, which would have most likely been the case sooner than they would have liked.

Michael seemed to collapse suddenly, Ortwin was by his side, grasping his shoulder. The contact seemed to do something and Michael gave a shout. It wasn't of pain, it was for Deinera. Ben could see her in her mind. Michael was swimming towards her, trying to save her. Ben dove in, knowing the young man was too weak to do either of them an good. He would save Deinera, his daughter. He would show her that she hadn't lost him, and never would again. Ortwin worked on saving Michael when Ben grabbed hold of Deinera. He swam towards the beach, not of the small island she had been on before, but the shore he came from when he jumped in.

If it hadn't been for the fact that he knew where he was, he would have thought that he was back on the beach he had found her on. She was face down in the water, hair floating around her like a fan of hammered gold and pearl, shimmering in the colors of the rainbow. He had jumped into the water and ignored the shouts of others, that she was already dead, that she wasn't worth his life. He sat on the beach, the young woman in his arms, seemingly dead. He held her close, trying hear her heart or breath. It was the same now, four years later.

"Deinera, I'm here for you. I won't ever leave you. We're all here for you, my daughter." He whispered.

Things happened really quickly. She was gasping for breath, there seemed to be this light, and suddenly they opened their eyes in the med bay. Michael and Ortwin had backed off, Lucas was off with the doctor. Ben held Deinera closely, and she slowly moved to hug him. Wires and such hung off her arms, and she seemed so thin to him now, having been there for a while.

After that, it was as if nothing had happened. She recovered quickly. Within two days she was able to come out of the hospital ward. Michael and Ortwin were busy doing other things around the boat, helping to fix it, so hadn't been alerted to the fact that their friend was awake and well. Michael came into the ward to see how things were, and saw Deinera awake, and sitting up, writing. She wasn't hooked up to the machines, and was alone. He had heard Ben being paged about the students. He ran up to her, spinning her around and hugging her tightly, and, surprising the both of them, kissed her soundly.

Deinera didn't know what to do. The emotions from Michael overwhelmed her, and she didn't know what she was feeling at first. Then she felt something else, disappointment, sadness, jealousy. Michael felt it too, through his connection with her. They jumped apart, as if they had been burned, and she turned to see Lucas standing there, a look on his face that was indescribable. He was gone suddenly, and Deinera felt like there was a void suddenly. She didn't know what to feel, and for the first time, she couldn't feel someone else's emotions pushing in on her own. It was like something had put itself up between her and other people.


	14. Given the second chance

I was making sure that everything was in my duffle bag, not wanting to miss anything. It seemed like it had been an eternity since I had gotten aboard the SeaQuest and started the long path that I was still blindly walking. I was exhausted, because I had been dreaming about my past now that the floodgates to that had been opened. I remembered almost everything, my name, my parents, the pain and loss of all my friends from a life I had once known.

And then there was the loss I felt from Lucas. I could feel his emotions from across the ship, and knew that somehow I had to heal the wound that had been created. I sighed and sat down on my bed, holding a picture of myself with Ortwin and Michael. It was from the file that Hudson had on us. It was from the past, before the chemicals had changed us into what we were. It was an old memory too, one that made me very sad to think that things had changed so drastically from then. I looked up when I heard the door open.

"Hey, there's my little girl." Ben said. "What's wrong?"

"I can remember, everything… almost everything, from my past. My name, my parents, what happened." I said.

Ben stood there, looking at me, a sad look in his eyes. I could feel his happy attitude slowly settle further in the ocean than the ship was at. I knew what he was feeling, but I had to let him know that this meant nothing to me no matter what.

"Ben, just because I know who my parents are, doesn't mean I want to go find them. I am a new person here, I've changed too much to be the person I was. They gave me up, sold me to that place. In that, they gave up all right they had to call me their daughter. I'm not leaving you that easily, dad." I said, hugging him tightly.

"That's good to know. We've got a few hours before everything is ready. You should come up to the deck and say your goodbyes." He said.

I nodded. I said my goodbyes swiftly, because I knew that I would see them again, sometime in the future. It was a small ocean, and I loved it enough to always be near it. Ortiz and O'Neil were really hard to say goodbye to. The captain surprised me by giving me a small hug, then he pulled me aside to talk to me.

"I know your all just kids and everything, as well as adults, but you need to talk to Lucas. Let him know how you feel, where you stand. You can't leave without saying goodbye to him, as much as you want to avoid that pain." He said.

"I know captain. I know." I said softly.

I walked to the Sea Deck, wanting to say goodbye to Darwin on my own. I was rubbing his melon and speaking to him softly when I felt Lucas's depression, for lack of a better word. I kept my head down, the turmoil in my mind matching what I felt within him. I looked up at him, as he watched me with Darwin.

"Lucas, I wanted to talk to you about what happened." I said softly.

"I know that you love them both." He said, trying to shrug it off.

"No, it's not that. They are my only link to my past, a past I want to forget again. I love them yes, but beyond a bond of friendship as strong as our own, I can't tell." I said. "What happened between Michael and I, I can't explain that. I was overwhelmed by what happened. I'm not sure if he even knew what he was doing."

"It's alright." Lucas said.

"No its not. I lead you on while I was here, thinking that…" I started but he shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I understand now, things are different now that you've got your memory back." He said.

I hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek.

"Give me time. Everything is a mess here." I said, touching my temple.

He nodded, and I squeezed his hand gently. He kissed me softly, and gave me a hug, then he left. I sat down next to Darwin again, talking to him. I went back up to the bridge again, and had a official farewells for the students. Someone had a camera, and wanted to get a picture of the three of us together. I grabbed Lucas as we found a spot away from the big group of people. We chose a set of stairs, Michael and Ortwin crouched, holding onto the railing, I was sitting by Lucas, and wrapped my arms around his neck, Ortwin and Michael each stood close.

I looked at the picture, a group of friends, brought together by circumstances beyond their control. I was glad that someone had a camera. It was a day that would always be a turning point in my mind. I was glad that I had been given a second chance to live my life, and not regret an

_A/N_

_that was a bit short, but this is the end of the first story. I have a second one in the making however, if you can't wait for it to be put up, check out some of my other stories that have been started or finished. _


End file.
